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'LECERE  ET  CARPERE' 


MOIT  ST.  fflAEY'S 

COLLEGE  LIBRARY. 


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To  tb.ee .  0  Go  d  my  Go  d  I  ■will  gi\^e  praise  \jpon  the  Harp 

?SM,M.\i,Ji  V-r.5. 


Pixh;is:H'Mh 


THE    END 

OF 

RELIGIOUS    CON^TROYERSY, 

m  A 
FRIENDLY  CORRESPONDENCE 

BETWEEN 

A  RELIGIOUS  SOCIETY  OF  PROTESTANTS 

AND 

A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  DIVINE. 
Mn  i\)xcz  JJarts: 

Part  I. — On  the  Rule  of  Faith  ;  or,  the  Method  of  finding  oxjt 

THE  True  Religion. 

Part  II. — On  the  Characteristics  op  the  True  Church. 

Part  III.— On  rectifying  Mistakes  concerning  the  Cathomo 
Church. 

BY  THE  RT.  HEV.  JOHN  MMER,  D.D., 

V.  A.,    F.  8.  A.  LONDON,    AND   THE   CATHOLIC   ACADEMY,  BOMS. 


Addressed  to  the  Bt.  Rev.  Dr.  Burgess,  Lord  Bishop  of  St,  David's,  mi 
Answer  to  his  Lordship's  Protestant  Catechism. 


TO   VHICH    IS  ADDED   THE    AUTHOR's    POSTSCRIPT. 


NEW    YORK: 

P.    J.     KENEDY,  "X 

Catholic     Publishing    House,  ^ 

5    BARCLAY    STREET.  >; 


mm  3") 


T9m  art  rem 


:  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  ond  tba 
of  hell  ■hall  not  prevail  agaiiut  it" 


LOAN  3TAaC 


THE  EDITOR  TO  THE  READER. 


lit  ihis  work,  entitled  "  The  End  of  Religious  Controversy,  * 
the  author  and  his  correspondents  having  established  the  cer- 
tainty of  dinne  revelation  and  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion, 
he  proposes  the  means  by  which,  among  the  various  discordant 
creeds  of  those  who  profess  Christianity,  the  true  faith  which 
iesus  Christ  brought  down  from  heaven,  and  the  true  church 
which  he  established  on  earth,  may  be  discovered.  He  under- 
takes to  prove  that  we  are  provided  with  the  certain  means  of 
making  this  discovery,  and  that  Christ  himself  has  left  us  a  rule 
of  faith,  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  all,  by  which  we  may  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  true  religion. 

Before  he  attempts  to  show  what  this  rule  is,  he  notices  cer- 
tain methods,  which  have  been  adopted  as  rules  of  faith,  and 
proves  them  to  be  insufficient  and  fallacious.  Private  inspira- 
tion, he  maintains,  cannot  be  a  rule  of  faith,  because  private  in- 
spiration is  in  itself  a  questionahle  pretension  ;  may  be  claimed 
by  one  as  well  as  by  another,  and  all  alike;  and  has,  in  fact, 
been  claimed  and  acted  upon  by  different  sectaries,  in  support 
of  different  and  contradictory  tenets ;  at  the  same  time  that  it 
has,  in  many  instances,  led  the  pretenders  to  it  into  the  greatest 
absurdities  and  most  shocking  impieties.  Another  rule  of  faith, 
the  rule  adopted  by  the  reformed  churches  in  general,  is  the 
scripture  or  the  written  word  of  God,  left  to  the  interpretation  of 
each  individual:  for  as  no  supreme,  unerring  authority  is  ac- 
knowledged by  Protestants  to  determine  the  sense  and  meaning 
of  Scripture,  or  to  decide  and  announce  what  articles  of  faith 
are  necessary  for  salvation,  individual  judgment  is  made  the; 
guide  to  individuals,  the  necessity  of  preachers  is  done  away, 
and  the  commission  of  Jesus  Christ  to  his  apostles,  "  Go,  teach 
all  nations,"  is  annulled.  Where  there  is  no  obligation  to  h<iar 
and  obey,  there  can  be  no  authority  to  teach  and  instruct.  The 
church,  as  an  infallible  teacher,  is  discarded,  but  its  powers  are 
transferred  to  each  individual  person  ;  each  person  possesses 
mfallihilUy  in  himself,  each  person  is  himself  a  church,  accord 


ingly  as  he  may  please  to  form  his  creed ;  ami  every  possible 
contradictory  opinion  is  equally  defensible,  as  resting  upon  the 
interpretation  of  Scripture,  adopted  by  the  person  who  maintains 
it.  This  rule,  like  private  inspiration,  is  shown  to  be  fallacious ; 
since,  lil^e  the  former,  it  has  led,  as  it  is  calculated  to  lead,  to 
opposite  conclusions  on  numberless  points  of  faith  :  and  since  there 
is  no  acknowledged  judge  on  earth  to  decide,  it  necessarily  fel- 
lows that  either  contradictory  doctrines  ^.re favored  by  the  sacred 
vc.bme,  and  revealed,  as  equally  true,  by  the  God  from  whom 
that  sacred  volume  came,  or  else  that  it  was  intended  by  the 
God  of  peace,  as  an  apple  of  discord,  and  meant  by  the  God  of 
truth  for  the  propagation  o^  falsehood.  But  as  such  intentions 
can  never  be  imputed  to  the  Deity,  nor  can  it  be  imagined  tha 
our  Redeemer  established  a  church  to  succeed  to  the  Jewish 
dispensation,  and  to  last  till  the  end  of  the  world,  so  vague  and 
indeterminate  in  its  creed,  so  uncertain  as  to  its  form  or  even 
existence,  in  one  place  professing,  on  the  authority  of  God's  in- 
fallible word,  articles  and  doctrines  which,  in  another  place,  it 
anathematizes  and  disclaims  on  the  same  unerring  authority, — 
the  author  maintains  that  the  Scripture  alone  does  not  furnish 
this  certain  and  attainable  rule  adapted  to  the  capacities  and  sit- 
uations of  mankind  at  large. 

Still  he  maintains  that  a  rule  does  exist,  and  ever  has  existed 
since  the  time  of  Christ,  by  which  the  faith  of  his  disciples  is  se- 
cured from  error,  and  his  true  religion,  with  all  its  doctrines  and 
articles  of  belief  proclaimed  to  them  with  equal  certainty,  by 
means  of  his  protecting  Spirit,  his  promised  Paraclete,  as  if  He 
were  visibly  seen  by  them,  and  were  heard  by  them  speaking  in 
his  own  person,  as  when  he  conversed  with  his  disciples  upon 
earth.  This  rule,  he  contends,  is  the  word  of  God,  written  and 
unwritten,  as  it  is  interpreted  and  explained  by  his  appointed 
oracle,  HIS  CHURCH,  which  he  has  authorized  and  commis- 
sioned to  teach  all  nations,  while  he  has  commanded  all  mankind 
to  hear  his  church.  This  rule  of  faith,  subject  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  an  infallible  expositor,  inspired  by  himself  and  guided  by 
his  Holy  Spirit,  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  must  necessarily  communi- 
cate his  revelations,  must  infallibly  teach  his  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  the  truth  alone.  Tiiis  rule,  thus  unerringly  explained 
by  the  Light  of  Light,  inevitably  implies  teachers  instituted  by 
Jesus  CupasT  himself,  and  a  succession  of  teachers  kept  up  by 
Him,  and  inspired  by  Him.  It  secures  their  followers  from  the 
danger  of  error,  in  adopting  their  own  conjectures,  and  the  teach- 
ers it  preserves  from  the  spirit  of  innovation  and  imposture,  from 
all  the  attempts  of  ambitious  or  interested  dogmatizers.  He 
then  proceeds  to  show,  that  the  church  dispersed  throughout  the 
»»r>rld  and  in  communion  with  the  See  of  Rome  (conamonly 


called  the  Catholic  Church)  alone  adopts  and  follows  this  in- 
fallible  rule;  and  he  produces  numberless  arguments  to  proye 
that,  whereas  Christians  have,  in  every  age  since  that  of  the 
apostles,  professed  their  belief  of  One,  Holy,  Catholic,  and  Apos- 
tohc  Church, — the  Church  in  communion  with  the  See  of  Rome, 
and  presided  over  by  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  in  that  see,  exclu- 
sively exhibits  these  four  essential  murks  of  the  church  of  Christ, 
viz.,  Unity,  in  doctrine,  liturgy,  gcn^ernment,  and  constitution; 
Sanctity,  in  doctrine,  in  the  means  of  holiness,  and  the  fruits  of 
holiness ;  Catholicity,  or  universality,  in  its  extent,  as  to  time 
and  place,  no  less  than  its  name,  which  it  has  borne  from  time 
immemorial ;  and,  finally,  Apostolicity,  in  its  descerit  and  reg- 
ular succession  of  ministers,  from  the  time  of  the  apostles,  as 
well  as  in  its  sacraments  and  sacred  institutions.  He  then  pro 
ceeds  to  show,  that  these  marks  are  deficient  to  every  Christian 
society,  except  that  which  is  in  communion  with  the  See  of  Rome, 
and  which  exclusively  enjoys,  as  it  ever  has  enjoyed,  the  dis- 
tinctive appellation  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

Here,  strictly  speaking,  his  work  is  at  an  end  and  controversy 
concluded.  For  the  infallible  superintendence  and  inspiration 
of  Jesus  Christ  promised  and  preserved,  and  the  marks,  by  which 
his  church  may  be  distinguished  from  every  other  society  oi 
congregation,  being  ascertained  and  applied,  it  follows  of  conse- 
quence,  (without  particular  proof  with  regard  to  each  particular 
article,)  that  every  doctrine  of  a  church  so  guarded  and  protected, 
must  be  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ  himself  and  the  church  se- 
cure from  error.  However,  for  the  sake  of  candid  and  sincere 
inquirers,  the  author  condescends  to  particular  examination  ; 
brings  forward  the  principal  charges  that  are  usually  made 
against  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  proves  them  to  be 
either  the  involuntary  errors  of  mistaken  ignorance,  or  the  un- 
fair means  resorted  to  by  misrepresentation,  with  the  view  to 
blacken  and  disfigure  the  spouse  of  Christ.  He  draws  aside  the 
mask  which  nmlice  had  held  up  as  her  genuine  countenance, 
and  displays  her  form  and  features  in  all  their  native  beauty 
and  loveliness.  For  further  satisfaction,  he  explains  and  justi- 
fies those  particular  doctrinal  points,  which  are  excepted  a^aiiist 
by  the  separatists  from  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Such  are  the  nature  and  character  of  the  work  now  presented 
lo  the  public  ;  such  is  the  object  of  the  pre-eminent  writer, 
which  if  he  have  attained,  he  has  without  question  put  an  End 
lo  Religious  Controversy,  and  fully  justified  tie  title  given  to  hi» 
matchless  performance.     Let  the  reader  jucge. 

1* 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 


Letter  I. — Mr.  Brown's  Apology  to  D>  Milner — Account  of  /he  Frendly 
Society  of  New  Cottage 11 

Essay  I. — On  the  Existence  of  God  an^  Natural  Religion,  by  ttie  Rev.  Saiii^ 
uol  Carey,  LL.D 14 

Essay  II. — On  the  Truth  of  the  Christian  Religion,  by  Do 18 

Letter  II. — Dr.  Milner's  Conditions  for  entering  on  the  Correspondence — 
Freedom  of  Speech — Sincerity  and  Candor — A  Conclusive  Method....  23 

Z.ET.  III. — Agreement  to  the  Conditions  on  the  part  of  the  Society 25 

Let.  IV. — Dispositions  for  success  in  Religious  Inquiries — Renunciation  of 
prejudices,  passions,  and  vicious  inclinations — Fervent  prayer 25 

Let.  V. — Rule  or  Method  of  finding  out  the  True  Religion — Christ  has  left  a 
Rule — This  Rule  must  be  sure  and  unerring — It  must  be  adapted  to  the 
capacity  and  situations  of  the  bulk  of  mankind 27 

Let.  VI. — First  fallacious  Rule  ;  Private  inspiration — This  has  led  number, 
less  Christians  into  errors,  impiety,  and  vice,  in  ancient  and  in  modern 
times — Account  of  Modern  fanatics.  Anabaptists,  Quakers,  Moravians, 
Swedenborgians,  Methodists,  &c 29 

Let.  VII. — Objections  of  certain  Members  of  the  Society  answered 38 

Let.  VIII. — Second  fallacious  Rule  ;  the  Scripture,  according  to  each  person's 
particular  interpretation  of  it — Christ  did  not  intend  that  mankind,  in  gen- 
eral, should  learn  his  Religion  from  a  book — No  Legislator  ever  made 
Laws  without  providing  .fudges  and  Magistrates  to  explain  and  enforce 
them — Dissensions,  divisions,  immorality,  and  infidelity,  which  have  arisen 
from  the  private  interpretation  of  Scripture — Illusions  of  Protestants  in  this 
matter — Their  inconsistency  in  making  Articles,  Catechisms,  &c. — Ac- 
knowledgment of  learned  Protestants  on  this  head 41 

Let.  IX. — The  subject  continued — Protestants  have  no  evidence  of  the  In- 
spiration of  Scripture  :  nor  of  its  authenticity  :  nor  of  the  fidelity  of  their 
copies  :  nor  of  its  sense — Causes  of  the  obscurity  of  Scripture  :  instances 
of  this — The  Protestant  Rule  affords  no  ground  for  Faith — Doubts  in  which 
those  who  follow  it  live  and  also  die 52 

Let.  X. — The  True  Rule,  namely,  the  Whole  Word  of  God,  unwritten  as 
well  as  written,  subject  to  the  interpretation  of  the  Church — In  this  and 
in  every  other  country,  the  written  law  is  grounded  upon  the  unwritten 
law — Christ  taught  the  Apostles  by  word  of  mouth,  and  sent  them  to  preach 
it  by  word  of  mouth — This  method  was  followed  by  them  and  their  disci- 
ples and  successors — Testimonies  of  this  from  the  Fathers  of  the  five  first 
centuries 61 

Lst.  XI. — The  subject  continued — Protestants  forced  to  have  recourse  to  the 
CathoHc  Rule,  in  different  instances — Their  vain  attempts  to  adopt  in  il 
other  instances — Quibbling  evasions  of  the  Articles,  Canons,  Oaths,  and 
Laws  Fespecting  uniformity — Acknowledged  necessity  of  deceiving  the 
people — Bishop  Hoadley  the  patron  of  this  hypocrisy — The  Catholic  Rule 
confessed  by  Bishop  Marsh  to  be  the  Original  Rule — Proofs  that  it  has 
never  been  abrogated — Advantages  of  this  Rule  to  the  Church  at  large, 
and  to  its  individual  members 70 

Let.  XII. — Objections  answered — Texts  of  Scripture — Other  objections — 
Illusory  declamation  of  Bishop  Porteus — The  advice  of  Tobias,  when  he 
sent  his  son  into  a  strange  country,  recommended  to  the  Society  of  New 
Cottage 84 


CONTENTS. 


PART     II. 

liiT.  ^III. — Congratulation  with  the  Society  of  New  Cottage  on  their  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  righ'  Rule  of  Faith — Proof  that  the  Catholic  Church 
alone  is  possessed  of  this  R  ale — Characters  or  Marks  of  the  True  Church  94 

Let.  XIV. — Unity,  the  First  Mark  of  the  True  Church — This  proved  from 
reason:  from  Scripture  :  and  from  the  Holy  Fathers 98 

L'ET.  XV. — Want  of  Unity  among  Protestants  in  general — This  acknowledg 
6(1  by  their  eminent  writers — Striking  instances  of  it  in  the  Established 
Church— Vain  attempts  to  reconcile  diversity  of  beUef  with  uniform  Ar- 
ticle3 99 

Lbt.  X  VI.— Unity  of  the  Catholic  Church — in  Doctrine  :  in  Liturgy  :  in  Gov- 
ernment, and  Constitution ; 106 

Let.  XVII. — Objections  against  the  exclusive  claims  of  Catholics — Extract 
of  a  letter  from  the  Rev. ,  Prebendary  of Bishop  Watson's  doc- 
trine on  this  head 109 

Let.  XVIII. — Objections  answered — Bishop  Watson,  by  attempting  to  prove 
too  much,  proves  nothing — Doctrine  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers 
on  this  head — Exclusive  claim  of  the  Catholic  Church  a  proof  of  her 
truth 110 

Let.  XIX. — Second  Mark  of  the  True  Church,  Sanctity — Sanctity  of  doc 
trine  wanting  to  the  different  Protestant  Communions — to  Luther's  system  : 
to  Calvin's  :  to  that  of  the  Established  Church  :  to  those  of  Dissenters  and 
Methodists — Doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  holy.  Postscript. — Varia- 
tions and  impiety  of  the  Rev.  John  Wesley's  doctrine 115 

Let.  XX. — Means  of  Sanctity — The  Seven  Sacraments  possessed  by  Catho- 
lics— Protestants  possess  none  of  them,  except  Baptism — The  whole  Litur- 
gy of  the  Established  Clmrch  borrowed  from  the  Catholic  Missal  and  Ritual 
— Sacrifice  the  most  acceptable  worship  of  God — The  most  perfect  Sacri- 
fice oflfered  in  the  Catholic  Church — Protestants  destitute  of  Sacrifice — 
Other  myans  of  Sanctity  in  the  Catholic  communion 125 

I4ET.  XXI. — Fruits  of  Sanctity — All  the  saints  were  Cathohcs — Comparison 
of  eminent  Protestants  with  contemporary  Catholics — Immorahty  caused 
by  changing  the  ancient  Religion 132 

Let.  XXII. — Objections  answered — False  accounts  of  the  Church  before  the 
Reformation,  so  called — Ditto  of  John  Fox's  Martyrs — The  vices  of  a  few 
Popes  no  impeachment  of  the  Church's  Sanctity — Scriptural  practices  and 
exercises  common  among  Catholics,  but  despised  by  Protestants 135 

Let.  XXIII. — Divine  Attestation  of  Sanctity  in  the  Catholic  Church — Mira- 
cles the  Criterion  of  Truth — Christ  appeals  to  them,  and  prornises  a  con- 
tinuation of  them — The  Holy  Fathers  and  Church- writers  attest  their  con- 
tinuation,  and  appeal  to  them  in  proof  of  the  True  Church — Evidence  of 
the  Truth  of  many  Miracles — Irreligious  skepticism  of  Dr.  Conyers  Mid- 
dleton  :  this  undermines  the  Credit  of  the  Gospel — Continuation  of  Mira- 
cles down  to  the  present  lime:  living  witnesses  of  it 138 

Let.  XXIV. — Objections  answered — False  and  unauthenticated  miracles  no 
disproof  of  true  and  authenticated  ones — Strictness  of  the  examination  of 
reported  miracles  at  Rome — Not  necessary  to  know  God's  design  in  work- 
ing each  miracle — Examination  of  the  arguments  of  celebrated  Protestants 
against  Catholic  miracles — Objections  of  Gibbon  and  the  late  Bishop  of 
Salisbury,  (Dr.  John  Douglass,)  against  St.  Bernard's  miracles,  refuted— 
St.  Xavier's  miracles  proved  from  the  authors  quoted  against  them — Dr. 
Middleton's  confident  assertion  clearly  refuted — Bishop  Douglas's  Concliu 
give  Evidence  from  Acosta,  against  St.  Xavier's  miracles,  clearly  refuted, 
by  the  testimony  of  the  said  Acosta — Testimony  of  Ribadeneira  concern, 
ing  St.  Igna.ius's  miracles,  truly  stated — True  account  of  the  miracle  of 


9  CONTENTS. 

Sarag06?a — Impostures  at  the  tomb  of  Abbd  Parib« -Refutation  of  the  ReT 
Peter  Robert's  pamphlet,  concerning  the  miraculous  cure  of  Winefrid 
White 150 

Let.  XXV. — The  True  Church  Catholic — Always  Catholic  in  name,  by  the 
testimony  of  the  Fathers— Still  distinguished  by  that  name  in  spite  of  all 
opposition 157 

Let.  XXVL — Qualities  of  Catholicity — The  Church  Catholic  as  to  its  mem- 
bers :  aa  to  its  extent:  as  to  its  duration — The  original  Church  of  this 
country 160 

LsT.  XXVII. — Objections  of  the  Rev.  Joshua  Clark  answered — Existence 
of  an  invisible  Church  disproved — Vain  attempt  to  trace  the  existence  of 
Protestantism  through  the  discordant  heresies  of  former  ages — Vain  Prog- 
nostication of  the  failure  of  the  True  Church — Late  attempts  to  under, 
mine  it 166 

Let.  XXVIII. — The  True  Church,  Apostolical :  so  described  by  the  ancient 
Fathers— APOSTOLICAL  TREE  of  the  Catholic  Church  explained,  by. 
a  brief  account  of  the  Popes  and  of  distinguished  Pastors,  also  of  Nations 
converted  by  her,  and  of  heretics  and  schismatics  cut  off  from  the  True 
Church 169 

Let.  XXIX. — Apostolical  succession  of  Ministry  in  the  Catholic  Church— 
Among  Protestant  Societies  the  Church  of  England  alone  claims  such  suc- 
cession— Doctrine  and  conduct  of  Luther,  and  of  different  Dissenters  on 
this  point — Uncertainty  of  the  Orders  of  the  Established  Church,  from  the 
doctrine  of  its  founders  :  from  the  history  of  the  times  :  from  the  defective, 
ness  of  the  form — Apostolic  Mission  evidently  wanting  to  all  Protestants— 
They  cannot  show  an  ordinary  mission  :  they  cannot  work  miracles  to 
prove  an  extraordinary  one 181 

Let.  XXX. — Objections  of  the  Rev.  Josuah  Clark  answered — Apostolical 
ministry  not  interrupted  by  the  personal  vices  of  certain  Po.^es — Fable  ot 
Pope  Joan  refuted — Companson  between  the  Protestant  and  the  Catholic 
Missions  for  the  conversion  of  Infidels — Vain  prediction  of  conversions  and 
of  reformation  by  the  Bible  Societies — Increase  of  crimes  commensurate 
with  that  of  the  Societies.  Postscript. — Recapitulation  of  things  proved 
m  the  foregoing  Letters 189 

PART    III. 

Lei,  XXXI. — Introduction. — Effects  produced  by  the  foregoing  Letters  on 
the  minds  of  Mr.  Brown  and  others  of  his  Society — This  in  part  counteract, 
ed  by  the  Bishop  of  London's  (Dr.  Porteus')  Charges  against  the  Catholic 
Religion 199 

liET.  XXXII. — Observations  on  the  charges  in  question — Impossibility  of  the 
True  Church  being  guilty  of  them — Just  conditions  to  be  required  by  a 
Cathohc  Divine  in  discussing  them — Calumny  and  misrepresentation  n<. 
cessary  weapons  for  the  assailants  of  the  True  Church — Instances  of  gross 
calumny  published  by  eminent  Protestant  writers,  now  Hving — EtTects  of 
these  calumnies — No  Catholic  ever  shaken  in  his  faith  by  them — They  oc 
casion  the  conversion  of  many  Protestants — They  render  their  authors 
dreadfully  guilty  before  God 200 

Let.  XXXIII. — Charge  of  Idolatry — Protestantism  not  originally  founded  on 
.his — Invocation  of  the  prayers  of  Angels  and  Saints  grossly  misrepresent, 
ed  by  Protestants  :  truly  stated  from  the  Council  of  Trent  and  Catholic 
Doctors — Vindication  of  the  practice — Evasive  attack  of  the  Bishop  of  Dur- 
ham :  retorted  upon  his  Lordship — The  practice  recommended  by  Luther  : 
vindicated  by  distinguished  Protestant  Bishops — Not  imposed  upon  the 
faithful:  highly  ccnsjling  and  beneficial 270 


CONTENTS.  9 

Let.  XXXIV. — Religious  Memorials — Doctrine  and  practice  of  Catholics, 
most  of  all,  misrepresented  on  this  head — Old  Protestant  versions  of 
Scripture  corrupted  to  favor  such  misrepresentation — Unbounded  calum. 
nies  in  the  Homilies  and  other  Protestant  publications — True  doctrine  of 
the  Catholic  Church  defined  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  taught  in  her 
books  of  instruction — Errors  of  Bish  jp  Porteus,  in  fact  and  in  reasoning- 
Inconsistency  of  his  own  practice — No  obligation  on  Catholics  of  possess- 
ing pious  images,  pictures,  or  relics 214 

Lit.  XXXV. — Objecrions  refuted — That  the  Saints  cannot  hear  us — Extrav. 
agant  addresses  to  Saints — Want  of  candor  in  explaining  them — These  no 
evidence  of  the  Faith  of  the  Chureh — Falsehoods  of  the  Bishop  of  London, 
concerning  the  ancient  doctrine  and  practice 219 

Let.  XXXVI. — Transubstantiation — Important  remark  of  Bishop  Bossuet 
concerning  it — Catholics  not  worshippers  of  bread  and  wine — Acknow 
ledgment  of  some  eminent  Protestants — Disingenuity  of  others,  in  con 
cealing  the  main  question,  and  bringing  forward  another  of  secondary  im 
portance — The  Lutherans  and  the  most  respectable  Prelates  of  the  Estab- 
lishment agree  with  Catholics  on  the  main  point 222 

Let.  XXXVII. — The  Real  Presence — Variations  of  the  Established  Church 
on  this  point — Inconsistency  of  her  present  doctrine  concerning  it — Proofs 
of  the  Real  Presence  from  Christ's  promise  of  the  Sacrament ;  from  his  in- 
stitution of  it — The  same  proved  from  the  ancient  Fathers — Absurd  posi- 
tion of  Bishop  Porteus,  as  to  the  origin  of  the  tenet — The  reality  strongly 
maintained  by  Luther — Acknowledged  by  the  most  learned  English  Bish- 
ops  and  Divines — Its  superior  excellence  and  sublimity 225 

Let.  XXXVIII. — Objections  answered — Texts  of  Scripture  examined — Tes- 
timony of  the  senses  weighed — Alleged  contradictions  disproved 233 

Let.  XXXIX. — Communion  under  one  or  both  kinds  a  matter  of  discipline — 
Protestants  forced  to  recur  to  Tradition  and  Church  discipline — The  blessed 
Eucharist  a  Sacrifice  as  well  as  a  Sacrament — As  a  Sacrifice,  both  kinds 
necessary  :  as  a  Sacrament,  whole  and  entire  under  either  kind — Protest, 
ants  receive  no  Sacrament  at  all — The  apostles  sometimes  administered 
the  communion  under  one  kind — The  text,  1  Cor.  xi.  27,  corrupted  in  the 
English  Protestant  Bible — Testimonies  of  the  Fathers  for  communion  in 
one  kind — Occasion  of  the  ordinances  of  St,  Leo  and  Pope  Gelasius— 
Discipline  of  the  Church  at  difl^erent  times  in  this  matter — Luther  allowed 
of  communion  in  one  kind ;  also  the  French  Calvinists ;  also  the  Church 
of  England 236 

Let.  XL. — Excellence  of  Sacrifice — Appointed  by  God — Practised  by  all 
people,  except  Protestants — Sacrifice  of  the  New  Law,  promised  of  old  to 
the  Christian  Church — Instituted  by  Christ — The  Holy  Fathers  bear  testi- 
mony to  it,  and  performed  it — St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  misinter 
preted  by  the  Bishops  of  London,  Lincoln,  &c. — Deception  of  talking  of 
the  Popish  Mass — Inconsistency  of  the  Established  Church  in  ordaining 
Priests  without  having  a  Sacrifice — Irreligious  invectives  of  Dr.  Hey 
against  the  Holy  Mass,  without  his  understanding  it ! 241 

Let.  XLI. — Absolution  from  sin — Horrid  misrepresenta;ion  of  Catholic  doc- 
trine— Real  doctrine  of  the  Church,  defined  by  the  Council  of  Trent — Thia 
pure  and  holy — Violent  distortion  of  Christ's  words  concerning  the  forgive, 
ness  of  sins,  by  Bishop  Porteus — Opposile  doctrine  of  Chillingworth  :  and 
of  Luther  and  the  Lutherans :  and  of  the  Established  Liturgy — Inconsis. 
tency  of  Bishop  Porteus — Refutation  of  his  arguments  about  confession : 
aiid  of  his  assertions  concerning  the  ancient  doctrine — Impossibility  of  im- 
posing this  practice  on  mankind  if  not  divine — Testimony  of  Chillingworth 
as  to  the  comfort  and  benefit  of  a  good  confession 247 

Let.  XI ill. — Indulgences — False  definiti:n  of  them  by  the  Bishop  of  Lou 


10  CONTENTS. 

doA  His  further  calumnies  on  the  subject — Similar  calumnies  of  other  Ph> 
testaiit  Divines — The  genuine  doctrine  of  Catholics — No  permission  to 
commit  sin — No  pardon  of  any  future  sin — No  pardon  of  sm  at  all — No 
exemption  from  contrition  or  doing  penance — No  transfer  of  superfluous 
Holiness — Retortion  of  the  charge  on  the  Protestant  tenet  of  imputed  ^ua. 
tice — A  mere  relaxation  of  temporal  punishment — No  encouragement  of 
vice ;  but  rather  of  virtue — Indulgences  authorized  in  all  Protestant  Socie- 
ties— Proofs  of  this  in  the  Church  of  England — Among  the  Anabaptists— 
Among  the  ancient  and  modern  Calvinists — Scandalous  Bulls,  Dispensa- 
tions, and  Indulgences  of  Luther  and  his  disciples 255 

Lit.  XLIII. — Purgatory  and  Prayers  for  the  Dead — Weak  objection  of  Dr 
Porteus  against  a  middle  state — Scriptural  arguments  for  it — Dr.  Porteus 
Appeal  to  Antiquity  defeated — Testimonies  of  Lutherans  and  English  Pre 
lates  in  favor  of  Prayers  for  the  Dead — Eminent  modern  Protestants,  who 
proclaim  a  Universal  Purgatory — Consolations  attending  the  Catholic  be- 
lief  and  practice 261 

Let.  XLIV. — Extreme  Unction — Clear  proof  of  this  Sacrament  from  Scrip- 
ture— Impiety  and  inconsistency  of  the  Bishop  in  slighting  this — His  Ap- 
peal to  Antiquity  refuted 268 

Let.  XLV. — Antichrist :  Impious  assertions  of  Protestants  concerning  him — 
Their  absurd  and  contradictory  systems — Retortion  of  the  charge  of  Apos. 
tacy — Other  charges  against  the  Popedom  refuted 270 

Let.  XLVI. — The  Pope's  Supremacy  truly  stated — His  spiritual  authority 
proved  from  Scripture — Exercised  and  acknowledged  in  the  primitive  ages 
— St.  Gregory's  contest  with  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  about  the 
title  of  QEcumenical — Concessions  of  eminent  Protestants 277 

Let.  XLVII. — The  language  of  the  Liturgy  and  Reading  the  Scriptures — ■ 
Language  a  matter  of  discipline — Reasons  for  the  Latin  Church  retaining 
the  Latin  language — Wise  economy  of  the  Church  as  to  reading  the  Holy 
Scriptures — Inconsistencies  of  the  Bible  Societies 286 

Let.  XLVIII. — Various  misrepresentations — Canonical  and  Apochryphal 
books  of  Scripture — Pretended  invention  of  five  new  Sacraments — Inten. 
tion  of  Ministers  of  the  Sacraments — Continence  of  the  Clergy  ;  recom. 
mended  by  Parliament — Advantages  of  fasting — Deposition  of  Sovereigns 
by  Popes  far  less  frequent  than  by  Protestant  Reformers — The  bishop's 
egregious  falsehoods  respecting  the  primitive  Church 293 

Let.  XLIX. — Religious  Persecution — The  Catholic  Church  claims  no  right 
to  inflict  sanguinary  punishments,  but  disclaims  it — The  right  of  temporal 
Princes  and  States  in  this  matter — Meaning  of  Can.  3,  Lateran  iv.  truly 
stated — Queen  Mary  persecuted  as  a  Sovereign,  not  as  a  Catholic — James 
JI.  deposed  for  refusing  to  persecute — Retortion  of  the  charge  upon  Pro- 
testants  the  most  effectual  way  of  silencing  them  upon  it — Instances  of 
persecution  by  Protestants  in  every  Protestant  country  :  in 'Germany  :  in 
Switzerland  :  at  Geneva,  and  in  France  :  in  Holland  :  in  Sweden :  in 
Scotland,  and  in  England — Violence  and  long  continuance  of  it  here — 
Eminent  loynlty  of  Catholics — Two  circumstances  which  distinguished  the 
persecution  exercised  by  Catholics  from  that  exercised  by  Protestants  298 

Let.  L. — Conclusion — Recapitulation  of  points  proved  in  these  letters — The 
True  Rule  of  Faith  :  the  True  Church  of  Christ — Falsity  of  the  Charges 
alleged  against  her — An  equal  moral  evidence  for  the  Catholic  as  for  the 
Christian  Religion — The  former,  by  the  confession  of  its  adversaries,  the 
mfer  tide — No  security  too  great  where  Eternity  is  at  stake  ! 313 


THB 

END    OF    RELIGIOUS    CONTROVERSY 


PART 


*'  Let  those  treat  you  harshly,  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  diificuhy 
of  attaining  to  truth  and  avoiding  error.  Let  those  treat  you  harshly,  who 
know  not  now  hard  it  is  to  get  rid  of  old  prejudices.  Let  those  treat  yoa 
harshly,  who  have  not  learned  how  very  hard  it  is  to  purify  the  interior  eye, 
and  render  it  capable  of  contern plating  the  sun  of  the  soul,  truth.  But  as  to 
U6 ;  we  are  far  from  this  disposition  towards  persons  who  are  separated  from 
us,  not  by  errors  of  their  own  invention,  but  by  being  entangled  in  those 
of  others.  We  are  so  far  from  this  disposition,  that  we  pray  to  God,  thatj  in 
refuting  the  false  opinions  of  those  whom  you  follow,  not  from  malice,  but  im- 
prudence, he  would  bestow  upon  us  that  spirit  of  peace,  which  feels  no  other 
sentiment  than  charity,  no  other  interest  than  that  of  Jesus  Christ,  no  other 
wish  but  for  your  salvation." — St.  Augusiiney  Doctor  of  the  Church,  A.  D.  400, 
contra  Ep.  Fund.  1.  c.  ii 


ON  THE  RULE  OF  FAITH;    OR,  THE   METHOD  OF 
FINDING  OUT  THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


I4ETTER  I. 

FROM  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  TO  IHE  REV.  JOHN  MILNER.,  D.D 

F.S.A. 

INTRODUCTION. 
New  Cottage^  near  Cressage,  Salop,  Oct.  13,  180L 
Reverend  sir — 

I  SHOULD  need  an  ample  apology  for  the  liberty  I  am  taking 
in  thus  addressing  you,  without  having  the  honor  of  your  ac- 
quaintance., and  still  more  for  the  heavy  task  I  am  endeavoring 
tc  impose  upon  you,  if  I  did  not  consider  your  public  character, 
as  a  pastor  of  your  religion,  and  as  a  writer  in  defence  of  it, 
and  likewise  your  personal  character  for  benevolence,  which 
nas  been  described  to  me  by  a  gentleman  of  your  corimunion, 
Mr,  J.  C — ne,  who  is  well  acquainted  with  us  both  Having 
mentioned  this,  I  need  only  add,  that  I  write  to  you  in  the  name 
of  a  society  of  serious  and  worthy  Christians  of  different  per- 
suasions, to  which  society  I  myself  belong,  all  of  whom  are  as 
desirous  as  I  am,  to  receive  satisfaction  from  you  on  certain 


13  LETTER    I. 

doub/s,  which  your  late  work  in  answer  to  Dr.  Sturges  has  sug 
gestod  to  us.* 

riowever,  in  making  this  request  of  our  society  to  you,  it 
seems  proper,  reverend  sir,  that  I  should  bring  you  acquainted 
with  the  nature  of  it,  by  way  of  convincing  you  that  it  is  not 
unworthy  of  the  attention  which  I  am  desirous  you  should  pay 
to  it.  We  consist  then  of  above  twenty  persons,  including  the 
ladies,  who,  living  at  some  distance  from  any  considerable 
town,  meet  together  once  a  week,  generally  at  my  habitation 
of  New  Cottage  ;  not  so  much  for  our  amusement  and  refec- 
tion, as  for  the  improvement  of  our  minds,  by  reading  the  best 
publications  of  the  day  which  I  can  procure  from  my  London 
bookseller,  and  sometimes  an  original  essay  written  by  one  of 
the  company. 

I  have  signified  that  many  of  us  are  of  different  religious 
persuasions :  this  will  be  seen  more  distinctly  from  the  follow- 
ing account  of  our  numbers.  Among  these,  I  must  mention,  in 
the  first  place,  our  learned  and  worthy  rector,  Dr.  Carey.  He 
is,  of  course,  of  the  Church  of  England ;  but  like  most  others 
of  his  learned  and  dignified  brethren,  in  these  times,  he  is  of 
that  free,  and,  as  it  is  called,  liberal  turn  of  mind,  as  to  explain 
away  the  mysteries  and  a  great  many  of  its  other  articles, 
which,  in  my  younger  days,  were  considered  essential  to  it. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Topham  are  Jvlethodists  of  the  Predestinarian  ana 
Antinomian  class,  while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Askew  are  mitigated 
Arminian  Methodists,  of  Wesley's  connection.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Rankin  are  honest  Quakers.  Mr.  Barker  and  his  children 
term  themselves  Rational  Dissenters,  being  of  the  old  Presbyte- 
rian lineage,  which  is  now  almost  universally  gone  into  Socin- 
ianism.  I,  for  my  part,  glory  in  being  a  stanch  member  of 
our  happy  establishment,  which  has  kept  the  golden  mean  among 
the  contending  sects,  and  which,  I  am  fully  persuaded,  ap- 
proaches nearer  to  the  purity  of  the  apostolic  church,  than  any 
other  which  has  existed  since  the  age  of  it.  Mrs.  Brown  pro- 
fesses  an  equal  attachment  to  the  church  ;  yet,  being  of  an  in- 
quisitive and  arden.  mind,  she  cannot  refrain  from  frequenting 
the  meetings,  and  even  supporting  the  missions  of  those  self, 
created  apostles,  who  are  undermining  this  church  on  every 
side,  and  who  are  nowhere  more  active  than  in  our  seques- 
tered  valley. 

With  these  differences  among  us,  on  the  most  interesting  of 
all  subjects,  we  cannot  help  having  frequent  religious  contix). 
Yersies :    but  reason  and  charity  enable  us  to  manage  these 

•  Letters  to  a  Prehendaiy,  in  answer  to  Reflections  on  J  opery  by  tht 
•«T  Dr.  Sturges,  Preben  ary  and  Chancellor  of  Winchester* 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

without  a  ly  breach,  either  of  good  manners  or  good  will  to 
each  other.  Indeed,  I  believe  that  we  are,  one  and  all,  pos- 
scsssed  of  an  unfeigned  respect  and  cordial  love  for  Christians 
of  every  description,  one  only  excepted.  Must  I  name  it  on  the 
present  occasion  ?  Yes,  I  must,  in  order  to  fulfil  my  commis- 
sion in  a  proper  manner.  It  is  then  the  church  that  you,  rev- 
erend sir,  belong  to  :  whici,  if  any  credit  is  due  to  the  eminent 
divines  whose  works  we  are  in  the  habit  of  reading,  and  more 
particularly  to  the  illustrious  Bishop  Porteus  in  his  celebrated 
and  standing  work,  called  A  BRIEF  CONFUTATION  OF 
THE  ERRORS  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME,  extracted 
from  Archbishop  Seeker's  FIVE  SERMONS  AGAINST 
POPERY,*  is  such  a  mass  of  absurdity,  bigotry,  superstition, 
idolatry,  and  immorality,  that  to  say  we  respect  and  love  those 
who  obstinately  adhere  to  it,  as  we  do  other  Christians,  would 
seem  a  compromise  of  reason,  scripture,  and  virtuous  feeling. 
And  yet,  even  of  this  church  we  have  formed  a  less  revolt 
ing  idea,  in  some  particulars,  than  we  did  formerly.  This  has 
hanpened  from  our  having^  just  read  over  your  controversial 
work  against  Dr.  Sturges,  called  LETTERS  TO  A  PRE- 
BENDARY,  to  which  our  attention  was  directed  by  the  notice 
taken  of  it  in  the  houses  of  Parliament,  and  particularly  by  the 
very  unexpected  compliment  paid  to  it  by  that  ornament  to  our 
church.  Bishop  Horsl'ey.  We  admit  then  (at  least  I,  for  my 
part,  admit)  that  you  have  refuted  the  most  odious  of  the 
charges  brought  against  your  religion — namely,  that  it  is  ne- 
cessarily, and  upon  principle,  intolerant  and  sanguinary,  re- 
quiring its  members  to  persecute  with  fire  and  sword  all  per- 
sons of  a  different  creed  from  their  own,  when  this  is  in  their 
power.  You  have  also  proved  that  Papists  may  be  good  sub- 
jects to  a  Protestant  sovereign  ;  and  you  have  shown,  by  an  in- 
teresting historical  detail,  that  the  Roman  Catholics  of  this  king- 
dom have  been  conspicuous  for  their  loyalty  from  the  time  of 
Elizabeth  down  to  the  present  time.  Still,  most  of  the  absurd 
and  anti-scriptural  doctrines  and  practices  alluded  to  above,  re- 
lating to  the  worship  of  saints  and  images,  to  transubstantiation 
and  the  half  communion,  to  purgatory,  and  shutting  up  the 
Bible,  with  others  of  the  same  nature,  you  have  not,  to  my  re- 
^llection,  so  much  as  attempted  to  defend.  In  a  word,  I  write 
to  you,  reverend  sir,  on  the  present  occasion,  in  the  name  of 
our  respectable  society,  to  ask  you  whether  you  fairly  give  up 
these  doctrines  and  practices  of  Popery,  as  untenable ;  or  other- 

*  The'  Norrisian  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  university  of  Cambridge, 
Dr.  Hey,  speaking  of  this  work,  says  :  "  The  refutation  of  the  Popish  errors 
is  now  reduced  into  a  small  compass  by  Archbishop  Seeker  and  Bishop  For 
teus."—  Lectures  in  Pivhity,  Vol.  TV.  p.  71. 

2 


14  ESSAY    I. 

wise,  whellier  you  will  condescend  to  interchange  a  few  letters 
with  me  on  the  subject  of  them,  for  the  satisfaction  of  me  and 
my  friends,  and  with  the  sole  view  of  mutually  discoverinsj  and 
communicating  religious  trut'is.  We  remark  that  you  say  in 
your  first  letter  to  Dr.  Sturges,  "  Should  I  have  occasion  to 
make  another  reply  to  you,  I  will  try  if  it  be  not  possible  to 
put  the  whole  question  at  issue  between  us  into  such  a  shape 
as  shall  remove  the  danger  of  irritation  on  both  sides,  and  still 
enable  us,  if  we  are  mutually  so  disposed,  to  agree  together  in 
the  acknowledgment  of  the  same  religious  truths."  If  you 
still  think  that  this  is  possible,  for  God's  sake,  and  your  neigh- 
bor's sake,  delay  not  to  undertake  it.  The  plan  embraces 
every  advantage  we  wish  for,  and  excludes  every  evil  we  de- 
precate. You  shall  manage  the  discussion  in  your  own  way, 
and  we  will  give  you  as  little  interruption  as  possible.  Two 
of  the  essays  above  alhuded  to,  with  which  our  worthy  rector 
lately  furnished  us,  I  will,  with  your  permission,  enclose,  to 
aonvince  you  that  genius  and  sacred  literature  are  cultivated 
round  the  Wrekin,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Severn. 

I  remain,  reverend  sir,  with  great  respect, 

Your  faithful  and  obedient  servant, 

James  Brown. 


ESSAY    I 

ON  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD,  AND  OF  NATURAL 

RELIGION. 

BY  THE  RET.  SAMUEL  CAREY,  LL.D 

Foreseeing  that  my  health  will  not  permit  me,  for  a  consid- 
erable  time,  to  meet  my  respected  friends  at  New  Cottage,  I 
comply  with  the  request,  which  several  of  them  have  made  me, 
in  sending  them  in  writing,  my  ideas  on  the  two  noblest  sub- 
jects which  can  occupy  the  mind  of  man  :  the  existence  of  God, 
and  the  truth  of  Christianity.  In  doing  this,  I  profess  not  to 
make  new  discoveries,  but  barely  to  s'ate  certain  arguments, 
which  I  collected  in  my  youth,  from  the  learned  Hugo  Grotius, 
our  own  judicious  Clarke,  and  other  advocates  of  natural  and 
revealed  religion.  I  offer  no  apology  for  adopting  the  words  o^ 
Scripture,  in  arguing  with  persons  who  are  supposed  not  to  ad- 
mit its  authority,  when  these  express  my  meaning  as  fully  d3 
any  others  can  do. 

The  first  argument  for  the  existence  of  God  is  thus  expressed 
by  the  royal  prophet :  "  Know  ye  that  the  Lord  he  is  God  :  it 
is  he  vhal  hp.th  n;  ade  us,  and  not  we  ourselves."     Ps.  c.  3.     In 


ESSAY    I.  la 

faet,  when  I  ask  myself  that  questhn,  which  every  refleciing 
man  must  sometimes  ask  himself:  How  came  I  into  this  state  of 
existence  ?  Who  has  bestowed  upon  me  the  being  v^hich  I  enjoy  * 
I  am  forced  to  answer,  It  is  not  I  that  made  myself;  and  each 
of  my  forefathers,  if  asked  the  same  question,  must  have  re- 
turned the  same  answer.  In  like  manner,  if  I  interrogate  the 
several  beings  with  which  I  am  surrounded  ;  the  earth,  the  air, 
the  water,  the  stars,  the  moon,  the  sun,  each  of  them,  as  an  an- 
cient  father  says,  will  answer  me  in  its  turn :  It  was  not  I  that 
made  you  ;  7,  like  you,  am  a  creature  of  yesterday,  as  incapable 
of  giving  existence  to  you  as  I  am  of  giving  it  to  mysef.  In 
short,  however  often  each  of  us  repeats  the  questions  :  How 
came  I  hither?  Who  has  made  me  what  I  am?  we  shall  never 
find  a  rational  answer  to  them,  till  we  come  to  acknowledge 
that  there  is  an  eternal,  necessary,  self-existent  Being,  the  author 
of  all  contingent  beings,  which  is  no  other  than  GOD.  It  is 
this  necessity  of  being,  this  self-existence,  which  constitutes  the 
nature  of  God,  and  from  which  all  his  other  perfections  flow. 
Hence,  when  he  deigned  to  reveal  himself  on  the  flaming  moun- 
tain of  Horeb,  to  the  holy  legislator  of  his  chosen  people, 
being  asked  by  this  prophet,  what  was  his  proper  name  ;  he  an- 
swered:  "I  AM  THAT  I  AM."  Exod.  iii.  14.  This  is  as 
much  as  to  say  :  /  alone  exist  of  myself;  all  others  are  created 
beings,  which  exist  by  my  will. 

From  this  attribute  of  self  existence,  all  the  other  perfections 
of  the  Deity,  eternity,  immensity,  omnipotence,  omniscience,  holi^ 
ness,  justice,  mercy,  and  bounty,  each  ?n  an  infinite  degree,  ne- 
cessarily flow  ;  because  there  is  nothing  to  limit  his  existence 
and  attributes,  and  because,  whatever  perfection  is  found  in  any 
created  being,  must,  like  its  existence,  have  been  derived  fi'om 
this  universal  source. 

This  proof  of  the  existence  of  God,  though  demonstrative 
ind  self-evident  to  reflecting  beings,  is,  nevertheless,  we  have 
reasen  to  fear,  lost  on  a  great  proportion  of  our  fellow-crea- 
tures ;  because  they  hardly  reflect  at  all  ;  or,  at  least,  never 
consider  Vho  made  them,  or  what  they  tcere  made  for.  But  that 
otlier  proof,  which  results  from  the  magnificence,  the  beauty, 
and  the  harmony  of  the  creation,  as  it  falls  under  the  senses, 
so  it  cannot  be  thought  to  escape  the  attention  of  the  most  stupid 
or  savage  of  rational  beings.  The  starry  heavens,  the  fulmi- 
nating clouds,  the  boundless  ocean,  the  variegated  earth,  the 
organized  human  body ;  all  these,  and  many  other  phenomena 
of  nature,  must  strike  the  mind  of  the  untutored  savage,  no 
less  than  that  of  the  studious  philosopher,  with  a  conviction 
that  there  is  an  infinitely  powerful,  wise,  and  bountiful  Being, 
who  is  the  author  of  thes  j  things :  though,  doubtless,  the  latter, 


16  S6SAY    I. 

m  proportion  as  he  sees  more  clearly  and  extensively  than  the 
former,  the  properties  and  economy  of  different  parts  of  the 
creation,  possesses  a  stronger  physical  evidence,  as  it  is  called, 
of  the  existence  of  the  Great  Creator.  In  fact,  if  the  pagan 
physician,  Galen,*  from  the  imperfect  knowledge  whicl  he 
possessed  of  the  structure  of  the  human  body,  found  himself 
compeHod  to  acknowledge  the  existence  of  an  infinitely  wise 
and  beneficent  being,  to  make  the  body  such  as  it  is ;  what 
would  he  not  have  said,  had  he  been  acquainted  with  the  cir. 
cuUtion  of  the  blood,  and  the  use  and  harmony  of  the  arteries, 
veins,  and  lacteals  1  If  the  philosophical  orator,  Tully,  dis- 
covered and  enlarged  on  the  same  truth,  from  the  little  know- 
ledge of  astronomy  which  he  possessed,*  what  strains  of  elo- 
quence  would  he  not  have  poured  forth  upon  it,  had  he  beeo 
acquainted  with  the  discoveries  of  Galileo  and  Newton,  rela- 
tive to  the  magnitude  and  distances  of  the  stars,  the  motions  of 
the  planets  and  the  comets  ?  Yes,  all  nature  proclaims  that 
there  is  a  Being  who  is  whe  in  heart  and  mighty  in  strength : — 
who  doeth  great  things  and  past  finding  out ;  yea,  wonders  without 
number  : — ivho  stretcheth  out  the  north  over  the  empty  places,  and 
hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing. — The  pillars  of  heaven  tremhle 
and  are  astonished  at  his  reproof. — Lo  /  these  are  a  part  of  his 
ways ;  hut  hoio  Utile  a  portion  is  heard  of  him  /  The  thunder 
of  his  power  who  can  understand  !     Job,  ix. — xxvi. 

The  proofs,  however,  of  God's  existence,  which  can  least  be 
evaded,  are  those  which  come  immediately  home  to  a  man's 
own  heart ;  convincing  him,  with  the  same  evidence  which  he 
has  of  his  own  existence,  that  there  is  an  all-seeing,  infinitely 
just,  and  infinitely  bountiful  Master  above,  who  is  witness  of 
all  his  actions  and  words,  and  of  his  very  thoughts.  For 
whence  arises  the  heartfelt  pleasure  which  the  good  man  feels 
an  resisting  a  secret  temptation  to  sin,  or  in  performing  an  act 
of  beneficence,  though  in  the  utmost  secrecy  ?  Why  does  he 
raise  his  countenance  to  heaven  with  devotion,  and  why  is  he 
prepared  to  meet  death  with  cheerful  hope,  unless  it  be,  that 
his  conscience  tells  him  of  a  munificent  rewarder  of  virtue,  the 
spectator  of  what  he  does?  And  why  does  the  most  hardened 
sinner  tremble  and  falter  in  his  limbs  and  at  his  heart,  when  he 
commits  his  most  secret  sins  of  theft,  vengeance,  or  impurity  ? 
Why,  especially,  does  he  sink  into  agonies  of  horror  and  do- 
fpair  at  the  approach  of  death,  unless  it  be,  that  he  is  deeplv 
joLvinced  of  tne  constant  presence  of  an  all-seeing  witness, 
«nQ  of  an  infinitely  holy,  powerful,  and  just  judge,  into  whosA 
\a'ids  it  is  a  terrible  thing  to  fall!     In  vain  does  he  say .   Dark 

•  D«  Usu  Partium.  t  De  Natura  Deorum,  1.  ii. 


ESi?AY    I.  17 

r,ess  cncompasseth  me  and  the  walls  cover  me  ;  no  one  seeiJi :  of 
whom  am  I  afraid  ? — for  his  conscience  lells  him  that,  "The 
eyes  of  the  Lord  are  far  brighter  than  the  sun,  beholding  round 
about  all  the  ways  of  men."     Ecclus.  xxiii.  26,  28. 

This  last  argument  in  particular,  is  so  obvious  and  convin- 
cing, that  1  cannot  bring  myself  to  believe  there  ever  was  a 
human  being,  of  sound  sense,  who  was  really  an  atheist 
Those  persons  who  have  tried  to  work  themselves  into  a  per. 
suasion  that  there  is  no  God,  will  generally  be  found,  both  in 
ancient  and  modern  times,  to  be  of  the  most  profligate  manners; 
who,  dreading  to  meet  him  as  their  judge,  try  to  persuade 
themselves  that  he  does  not  exist.  This  has  been  observed  by 
St.  Augustin,  who  says:  "No  man  denies  the  existence  of 
God,  but  such  a  one  whose  interest  it  is  that  there  should  be  no 
God."  Yet  even  they  who,  in  the  broad  daylight,  and  among 
their  profligate  companions,  pretend  to  disbelieve  the  existence 
of  a  Supreme  Being;  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and  still 
more,  under  the  apprehension  of  death,  fail  not  to  confess  it,  a» 
Seneca,  I  think,  has  somewhere  observed.* 

"  A  son  heareth  his  father,  and  a  servant  his  master,"  says 
the  prophet  Malachi.  "  If  then  I  be  a  father,  where  is  mine 
honor  1  and  if  I  be  a  master,  where  is  my  fear  ?  saith  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,"  i.  6.  In  a  word,  it  is  impossible  to  believe  in  the 
existence  of  a  Supreme  Being,  our  Creator,  our  Lord,  and  our 
Judge,  without  being  conscious,  at  the  same  time,  of  our  obli- 
gation to  worship  him  interiorly  and  exteriorly ;  to  fear  him, 
to  love  him,  and  to  obey  him.  This  constitutes  natural  religion; 
l>y  the  observance  of  which  the  ancient  patriarchs,  together 
with  Mechisedec,  Job,  and,  we  trust,  very  many  other  virtuons 
and  religious  persons  of  different  ages  and  countries,  have 
been  acceptable  to  God  in  this  life,  and  have  attained  to  ever- 
lasting bliss  in  the  other :  still  we  must  confess,  with  deep  sor- 
row, that  the  number  of  such  persons  has  been  small,  compaied 
with  those  of  every  age  and  nation,  who,  as  St.  Paul  says  : 
"  When  they  knew  God,  glorified  him  not  as  God  ;  neither 
were  thej'  thankful,  but  became  vain  in  their  imaginations  ; 
and  their  foolish  hearts  were  darkened :  they  changed  the 
truth  of  God  into  a  lie,  and  worshipped  and  served  the  creature 
more  than  the  Creator,  who  is  blessed  for  evermore."  Rom.  i, 
21,  25.  Samuel  Carey, 

•  It  is  proper  here  to  observe,  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  boasting  athe- 
ists who  signalized  thernsehes  by  their  impiety  during  the  French  Revolu. 
tion,  or  a  few  years  previous  to  its  eruption,  acknowledged  when  they  came 
to  die,  that  their  irreligion  had  been  affected,  and  that  they  never  doubted  m 
their  hearts  of  the  existence  of  God  and  the  truths  of  Christianity.  Among 
these  were  the  Marquis  d'Argens,  Boulanger,  La  Metric,  Collot  d'Herboia 
Egalititf,  Duke  of  Orleans,  &c. 

2* 


18  ESSAY   n. 

ESSAY   II. 
ON  THE  TRUTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 

BY  THE  REV  SAMUEL  CAREY,  LL.U. 

Though  the  light  of  nature  is  abundantly  sufficient,  as  I  trust 
I  have  shown  in  my  former  essay,  to  prove  the  existence  of 
God,  and  the  duty  of  worshipping  and  serving  him,  yet  this  was 
not  the  only  light  that  was  communicated  to  mankind  in  the 
first  ages  of  the  world,  concerning  these  matters,  since  man}r 
things  relating  to  them  were  revealed  by  God  to  the  patriarchs, 
and,  through  them,  to  their  contemporaries  and  descendants. 
At  leHgth,  however,  this  knowledge  was  almost  universally  ob- 
literated from  the  minds  of  men,  and  the  light  of  reason  itself 
was  so  clouded  by  the  boundless  indulgence  of  their  passions, 
that  they  seemed,  everywhere,  sunk  almost  to  a  level  with  the 
brute  creation.  Even  the  most  polished  nations,  the  Greeks 
and  the  Romans,  blushed  not  at  unnatural  lusts,  and  boasted  of 
the  most  horrid  cruelties.  Plutarch  describes  the  celebrated 
Grecian  sages,  Socrates,  Plato,  Xenophon,  Cebes,  &c.,  as  in- 
dulging freely  in  the  former  ;*  and  every  one  knows  that  the 
chief  amusement  of  the  Roman  people,  was  to  behold  their  fel- 
low-creatures  murdering  one  another  in  the  amphitheatres, 
sometimes  by  hundreds  and  thousands  at  a  time.  But  the  de- 
pravity and  impiety  of  the  ancient  pagans,  and  I  may  say  the 
same  of  those  of  modern  times,  appear  chiefly  in  their  reli- 
gious doctrines  and  worship.  What  an  absurd  and  disgusting 
rabb]*3  of  pretended  deities,  marked  with  every  crime  that  dis- 
graces the  worst  of  mortals,  lust,  envy,  hatred,  and  cruelty,  did 
not  the  above-named  refined  nations  worship  ;  and  that,  in  sev- 
eral instances,  by  the  imitation  of  their  crimes  !  Plato  allows 
of  drunkenness  in  honor  of  the  gods ;  Aristotle  admits  of  inde- 
cent representations  of  them.  How  many  temples  were  every- 
where erected,  and  prostitutes  consecrated  to  the  worship  of 
Venus  !f  And  how  generally  were  human  sacrifices  offered 
up  in  honor  of  Moloch,  Saturn,  Thor,  Diana,  Woden,  and  other 
pretended  gods,  or  rather  real  demons,  by  almost  every  pagan 
nation,  Greek  and  barbarian,  and  among  the  rest,  by  the  an- 
cient Britons,  inhabitants  of  this  island !  It  is  true,  some  few 
sages  of  antiquity,  by  listening  to  the  dictates  of  nature  and 
reason,  saw  into  the  absurdity  of  the  popular  religion,  and  dis- 

»  De  Isid.  et  Osirid.  Even  the  refined  Cicero  and  Virgil  did  not  blush  at 
tbese  infamies. 

t  Strabo  tells  us,  that  there  were  1,000  prostitu  cb  attached  to  the  temple 
*-<■  Venus,  at  Corinth.  The  Athenians  attributed  ^he  pieservation  of  their 
nily  to  tie  prayers  of  'ts  prostitutes. 


ESSA7    II.  10 

covered  the  existence  and  attributes  of  the  true  God ;  but  tnen 
how  unsteady  and  imperfect  was  their  belief,  even  in  this 
point !  and  when  "  they  kne\\  God,  tney  did  not  glorify  him  as 
God,  nor  give  him  thanks,  but  became  vain  in  their  thoughts.'' 
Rom.  i.  21.  In  short,  th3y  were  so  bewildered  on  the  whole 
subject  of  religion,  that  Socrates,  the  wisest  of  them  all,  de- 
clared  it  "  impossible  foi  men  to  discover  this,  unless  the  Deity 
flimself  deigned  to  revea.  it  to  them."*  Indeed  it  was  an  effort 
of  miercy,  worthy  the  great  and  good  God,  to  make  such  a  rev- 
elation of  himself,  and  of  his  acceptable  worship,  to  poor,  be- 
nighted, and  degraded  man.  This  he  did,  first,  in  favor  of  a 
poor  afflicted,  captive  tribe  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  the  Israel- 
ites, whom  he  led  from  thence  into  the  country  of  their  ances- 
tors, and  raised  up  to  be  a  powerful  nation,  by  a  series  of 
astonishing  miracles  ;  instructing  and  confirming  them  in  the 
knowledge  and  worship  of  himself  by  his  different  prophets. 
He  afterwards  did  the  same  thing  in  favor  of  all  the  people  of 
the  earth,  and  to  a  far  greater  extent,  by  the  promised  Messiah, 
and  his  apostles.  It  is  to  this  latter  Divine  legation  I  shall 
here  confine  my  arguments :  though,  indeed,  the  one  confirms 
the  other  ;  since  Christ  and  the  apostles  continually  bear  testi- 
mony to  the  mission  of  Moses. 

All  history,  then,  and  tradition  prove,  that  in  the  reign  of  Ti- 
berius, the  second  Roman  emperor  after  Julius  Csesar,  an  ex- 
traordinary personage,  Jesus  Christ,  appeared  in  Palestine, 
teaching  a  new  system  of  religion  and  morality,  far  more  sub- 
lime and  perfect  than  any  which  the  pagan  philosophers  or 
even  the  Hebrew  prophets  had  inculcated.  He  confirmed  the 
truths  of  natural  religion  and  of  the  Mosaic  revelation ;  but 
then  he  vastly  extended  their  sphere,  by  the  communication  of 
many  heavenly  mysteries,  concerning  the  nature  of  the  one  true 
God,  his  economy  in  redeeming  man  by  his  own  vicarious 
sufferings,  the  restoration  and  future  immortality  of  our  bodies, 
and  the  final,  decisive  trial  we  are  to  undergo  before  him,  our 
destined  Judge.  He  enforced  the  obligation  of  loving  our 
heavenly  Father  above  all  things,  of  praying  to  him  continually, 
ar.d  of  referring  all  our  thoughts,  words,  and  actions,  to  his  di 
vine  honor.  He  insisted  on  the  necessity  of  denying,  not  merely 
one  or  other  of  our  passions,  as  the  philosophers  had  done,  who. 
as  Tertullian  says,  drove  out  one  nail  with  another ;  but  the 
whole  collection  of  them,  disorderly  and  vitiated  as  they  are, 
since  the  fall  of  our  first  parents.  In  opposition  to  our  innate 
avarice,  pride,  and  love  of  pleasure,  he  opened  his  mission  by 
teaching  that,  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit;  Blessed  art  the 

♦  Plata  Dialog.  Alcibiad. 


20  ESSAl     II. 

meek ;  Blcssid  are  they  that  mourn,  ^c.  Teaching,  as  he  did, 
with  respect  to  our  fellow-creatures,  every  social  virtue,  he  sin. 
gled  out  fraternal  charity  for  his  peculiar  and  characteristic 
precept ;  requiring  that  his  disciples  should  love  one  another  as 
iliery  love  themselves,  and  even  as  he  himself  has  loved  them ; 
he  who  laid  down  nis  life  for  them !  and  he  extended  the  obli- 
gation of  this  precept  to  our  enemies,  equally  with  our  friends. 

Nor  was  the  morality  of  Jesus  a  mere  speculative  system  of 
precepts,  like  the  systems  of  the  philosophers:  it  was  of  a  prac- 
ileal  nature,  and  he  himself  confirmed,  by  his  example,  every 
virtue  which  he  inculcated,  and  more  particularly  that  hardest 
of  all  others  to  re?.uce  to  practice,  the  love  of  our  enemies. 
Christ  had  gone  about,  as  the  sacred  text  expresses  it,  doing 
good  to  all,  Acts,  x.  38,  and  evil  to  no  one.  He  had  cured  the 
sick  of  Judea  and  the  neighboring  countries,  had  given  sight 
to  the  blind,  hearing  to  the  deaf,  and  even  life  to  the  dead  ;  but, 
above  all  things,  he  had  enlightened  the  minds  of  his  hearers 
with  the  knowledge  of  pure  and  sublime  trutns,  capable  of 
leading  them  to  present  and  future  happiness :  yet  was  he 
everywhere  calumniated  and  persecuted,  till  at  length,  his  in- 
veterate enemies  fulfilled  their  malice  against  him,  by  nailing 
him  to  a  cross,  thereon  to  expire,  by  lengthened  torments.  Not 
content  with  this,  they  came  before  his  gibbet,  deriding  him  in 
his  agony  with  insulting  words  and  gestures  !  And  what  is  the 
return  which  the  author  of  Christianity  makes  for  such  unex- 
ampled aff*ronts  and  barbarity  ?  He  excuses  the  perpetrators 
of  them  !  He  prays  for  them  !  "  Father,  forgive  them  :  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do  !"  Luke,  xxiii.  34.  No  wonder 
thisproof  of  supernatural  charity  should  havestcL^jjpred  the  most 
hardened  infidels ;  one  of  whom  confesses  that,  "  if  Socrates 
has  died  like  a  philosopher,  Jesus  alone  has  died  like  a  God  !"* 
The  precepts  and  the  example  of  the  master  have  not  been  lost 
upon  his  disciples.  These  have  ever  been  distinguished  by 
their  practice  of  virtue,  and  particularly  by  their  charity  and 
forgiveness  of  injuries.  The  first  of  them  who  laid  down  his 
life  for  Christ,  St.  Stephen,  while  the  Jews  were  stoning  him  to 
death,  prayed  thus  with  his  last  voice :  "  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin 
10  their  charge  !"     Acts,  vii.  60. 

Having  considered  the  several  systems  of  paganism,  which 
have  prevailed,  and  that  still  prevail  in  different  parts  of  the 
world,  both  as  to  belief  and  practice,  together  with  the  specula- 
tions of  the  wisest  infidel  philosophers  concerning  them ;  and 
havr^^  conteniplated,  on  the  other  hand,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Ne\>  lestan.ent    3oth  as  to  theory  and  practice;  I  would  ask 

*  Rousseau,  Emile. 


ESSAY    II.  21 

any  candid  unl^liever,  ^\here  he  thought  Jesus  Christ  could 
have  acquired  the  idea  of  so  sublime,  so  pure,  so  efficacious  a 
religion,  as  Christianity  is  ;  especially  when  compared  with  the 
others  above  alluded  to  ?  Could  he  have  acquired  it  in  th^ 
workshop  of  a  poor  artisan  of  Nazareth,  or  among  the  fisher- 
men  of  the  lake  of  Genezareth  ?  Then,  how  could  he  and  pAa 
poor  unlettered  apostles  succeed  in  propagating  this  religion,  as 
they  did,  throughout  the  world,  in  opposition  to  all  the  talents 
and  power  of  philosophers  and  princes,  and  all  the  passions 
of  all  mankind  ?  No  other  answers  can  be  given  to  these 
questions,  than  that  the  religion  itself  has  been  divinely  revealed, 
*nd  that  it  has  been  divinely  assisted  in  its  progress  throughout 
khe  world. 

In  addition  to  this  internal  evidence  of  Christianity,  as  it  is 
called,  there  are  external  proof s  which  must  not  be  passed  over. 
Christ,  on  various  occasions,  appealed  to  the  miracles  which  he 
wrought,  in  confirmation  of  his  doctrine  and  mission  ;  miracles 
public  and  indisputable,  which,  from  the  testimony  of  Pilate 
himself,  were  placed  on  the  records  of  the  Roman  empire,*  ana 
which  were  not  denied  by  the  most  determined  enemies  of 
Christianity,  such  as  Celsus,  Porphyrins,  and  Julian,  the  apos^ 
tate.  Among  these  miracles,  there  is  one  of  so  extraordinary  a 
nature,  as  to  render  it  quite  unnecessary  to  mention  any  others, 
and  which  is  therefore  always  appealed  to  by  the  apostles,  as 
the  grand  proof  of  the  gospel  they  preached  ;  I  mean  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ  from  the  dead.  To  the  fact  itself  must  be  add- 
ed also  its  circumstances  ;  namely,  that  he  raised  himself  to  life 
hy  his  own  power,  without  the  intervention  of  any  living  person ;  and 
tnat  he  did  thi5  i)n  conformity  with  his  prediction,  at  the  time  which 
he  had  appointed  for  this  event  to  take  place,  and  in  defiance  of 
the  efforts  of  his  enemies  to  detain  his  body  in  the  sepulchre. 
To  elude  the  evidence  resulting  from  this  unexampled  prodigy, 
one  or  other  of  the  following  assertions  must  be  maintained ; 
either  that  the  disciples  were  deceived  in  believing  him  to  be 
risea  from  the  dead,  or  that  they  combined  to  deceive  the  world 
into  a  belief  of  that  imposition.  Now  it  cannot  be  credited 
that  they  themselves  were  deceived  in  this  matter,  beinff  many 
in  number,  and  having  the  testimony  of  their  eyes,  in  seeing 
their  master  repeatedly  during  forty  days;  of  their  ears  in 
hearing  his  voice ;  and  one,  the  most  incredulous  among  thenj, 
the  testimony  of  his  feeling,  in  touching  his  person  and  probing 
his  wounds.  Nor  can  it  be  believed  that  they  conspired  to 
propagate  an  unavailing  falsehood  of  this  nature  throughout  the 
nations  of  the  earth;  namely,  that  a  person,  put  to  death  in 

t  Tertul.  in  Apolog. 


22  ESSAY  n. 

Judea,  had  risen  again  to  life : — and  this  too,  without  ary  pros. 
pect  to  themselves  for  this  world,  but  that  of  persecution,  tor- 
ments,  and  a  crue.  death,  which  they  successively  endured,  as 
did  their  numerous  disciples  after  them,  in  testimony  of  this 
fact ;  without  any  expectation  for  the  other  world,  but  the  ven- 
geance of  the  God  of  truth. 

Next  to  the  miracles  wrought  by  Christ,  is  the  fulfilment  of 
the  ancient  prophecies  concerning  him,  in  proof  of  the  religion 
which  he  taught.  To  mention  a  few  of  these :  He  was  oom 
just  after  the  sceptre  had  departed  from  the  tribe  of  Juda,  Gen. 
xlix.  10  ;  at  the  end  of  seventy  weeks  of  years  from  the  restora- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  Dan.  ix.  24 ;  while  the  second  temple  of  Je- 
rusalem was  in  being,  Hagg.  ii.  7.  He  was  born  in  Bethle- 
hem, Mic.  V.  2 ;  worked  the  identical  miracles  foretold  of  him, 
Isai.  XXXV.  5.  He  was  sold  by  his  perfidious  disciple  for  thirty 
pieces  of  silver,  which  were  laid  out  in  the  purchase  of  a  potter's 
field,  Zech.  xi.  13.  He  was  scourged,  spit  upon,  Isai.  1.  6; 
placed  among  malefactors,  Isai.  xxxiii.  12.  His  hands  and  feet 
were  transfixed  with  nails,  Ps.  xxii.  16  ;  and  his  side  loas  opened 
with  a  spear,  Zech.  xii.  10.  Finally,  he  died,  was  buried  with 
honor,  Isai.  liii.  9  ;  and  rose  again  to  life  without  experiencing 
corruption,  Ps.  xvi.  10.  The  sworn  enemies  of  Christ,  the  Jews, 
were,  during  many  hundred  years  before  his  coming,  and  still 
are,  in  possession  of  the  Scriptures,  containing  these  and  many 
other  predictions  concerning  him,  which  were  strictly  fulfilled. 

The  very  existence,  and  other  circumstances  respecting  this 
extraordinary  people,  the  Jews,  are  so  many  arguments  in 
proof  of  Christianity.  They  have  now  subsisted,  as  a  distinct 
people,  for  more  than  four  thousand  years,  during  which  they 
have  again  and  again  been  subdued,  harassed,  and  almost  ex- 
tirpated. Their  mighty  conquerors,  the  Philistines,  the  Assyr- 
ians, the  Persians,  the  Macedonians,  the  Syrians,  and  the  Ro- 
mans, have  in  their  turns  ceased  to  exist,  and  can  nowhere  be 
fDund  as  distinct  nations ;  while  the  Jews  exist  in  great  num- 
oers,  and  are  known  in  every  part  of  the  world.  How  can  this 
oe  accounted  for?  Why  has  God  preserved  them  alone, 
nmongst  tne  ancient  nations  of  the  earth  ?  The  truth  is,  they 
*re  still  the  subject  of  prophecy,  with  respect  to  both  the  Old 
and  the  New  Testament.  They  exist  as  monuments  of  God's 
wrath  against  them  ;  as  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures 
which  condemn  them ;  and  as  the  destined  subjects  of  his  final 
mercy  before  the  end  of  the  world.  They  are  to  be  found  in 
every  quarter  of  the  globe  ;  but  in  the  condition  with  which 
their  great  legislator  Moses  threatened  them,  if  they  forsook 
the  Lord  ;  namely,  that  he  would  remove  them  into  all  the  king 
doms  of  the  ea\  th,  Deut.  xxviii.  25,  that  they  should  become  an 


PRELIMINARIES.  23 

asionishmem,  and  a  ly-word  among  all  nations,  ibid.  37,  and  that 
they  should  find  no  ease,  neither  should  the  sole  of  their  foot  have 
rest,  ibid.  63.  Finally,  they  are  everywnere  seen,  but  carry, 
mg,  written  on  their  foreheads,  the  curse  which  they  pronounced 
on  themselves,  in  rejecting  the  Messiah  ;  "  His  blood  be  upon 
us  and  upon  our  children  !"  Matt,  xxvii.  25.  Still  is  this  ex- 
araordinary  people  preserved,  to  be,  in  the  end,  converted,  and 
o  find  mercy,     Rom.  xi.  26,  &c. 

Samuel  Caret 


LETTER  D.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  &c 
PRELIMINARIES. 

Winton,  October,  20,  1801 
Dear  sir — 

You  certainly  want  no  apology  for  writing  to  me  on  the  sub- 
ject of  your  letter.  For  if,  as  St.  Peter  inculcates,  each 
Christian  ought  to  be  "  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to  every 
man  that  asketh  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  him,"  1  Pet.  iii. 
15,  how  inexcusable  would  a  person  of  my  ministry  and  com- 
mission be,  who  am  a  "  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the 
barbarians,  both  to  the  wise  and  the  unwise,"  Rom.  i.  14,  were 
I  unwilling  to  give  the  utmost  satisfaction,  in  my  power,  respect- 
ing the  Catholic  religion,  to  any  human  being,  whose  inquirie.* 
appear  to  proceed  from  a  serious  and  candid  mind,  desirous  of 
discovering  and  embracing  religious  truth,  such  as  I  must  be- 
lieve yours  to  be  ?  And  yet  this  disposition  is  exceedingly  rare 
among  Christians.  Infinitely  the  greater  part  of  them,  in 
choosing  a  system  of  religion,  or  in  adhering  to  one,  are  guided 
by  motives  of  interest,  worldly  honor,  or  convenience.  These 
inducements  not  only  rouse  their  worst  passions,  but  also  blind 
their  judgment ;  so  as  to  create  hideous  phantoms  to  their  in- 
tellectual eyes,  and  to  hinder  them  from  seeing  the  most  con- 
spicuous objects  which  stand  before  them.  To  such  inconsis- 
tent Christians  nothing  proves  so  irritating  as  the  attempt  to  dis- 
abuse them  of  their  errors,  except  the  success  of  that  attempt, 
by  putting  it  out  of  their  power  to  defend  them  any  longer. 
These  are  they,  aiA  O !  how  infinite  is  their  number,  of  whom 
Christ  says,  "  They  love  darkness  better  than  light,"  John,  iii. 
16  j  ard  who  say  to  the  prophets,  "  Prophesy  not  unto  us  right 
things  .  speak  unto  us  smooth  things,"  Isai.  xxx  10.  Tliey 
form  to  themselves  a  false  conscience,  as  the  Jews  did  when 
they  murdered  their  Messiah,  Acts,  iii.  17  ;  and  as  he  himself 
foretold  that  many  others  would  do,  in  murdering  his  disciples, 
John,  xvi.  2.  And  here  permit  me  to  observe,  that  I  myself 
have  experienced  something  of  this  spirit  in  vny  religious  di*. 


24  LETTER    n. 

cussions,  with  persons  who  have  been  loudest  in  professing  theii 
candor  and  charity.  Hence,  I  make  no  doubt,  if  the  elucida 
tion  which  you  call  for  at  my  hands,  for  your  numerous  society, 
should  happen  by  any  means  to  become  public,  that  I  shall 
havp  to  "  eat  the  bread  of  affliction,  and  drink  the  water  of 
tribulation,"  1  Kings,  xxii.  27,  for  this  discharge  of  my  dury, 
perhaps  during  the  remainder  of  my  life.  But,  as  the  apoi^tle 
writes,  "  None  of  these  things  move  me  ;  neither  count  I  my  life 
dear  to  me,  so  that  I  may  finish  my  course  with  joy,  and  the  minis- 
try which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Acts,  xx.  24. 
It  remains,  sir,  to  settle  the  conditions  of  our  correspondence. 
What  I  propose  is,  that,  in  the  first  place,  we  should  mu- 
tually, and  indeed  all  of  us  who  are  concerned  in  this  friendly 
controversy,  be  at  perfect  liberty,  without  offence  to  any  one,  to 
speak  of  doctrines,  practices,  and  persons,  in  the  manner  we 
may  judge  the  most  suitable  for  the  discovery  of  truth :  secondly, 
that  we  should  be  disposed,  in  common,  as  far  as  poor  human  nature 
will  permit,  to  investigate  truth  with  impartiality ;  to  acknowledge 
it,  when  discovered,  with  candor ;  and,  of  course,  to  renounce 
every  error  and  unfounded  prejudice  that  may  be  detected,  on 
any  side,  whatever  may  be  the  sacrifice  or  the  cost.  I,  for  my 
part,  dear  sir,  here  solemnly  promise,  that  I  will  publicly  re- 
nounce the  religion  of  which  1  am  a  minister,  and  will  induce 
as  many  of  my  flock,  as  I  may  be  able  to  influence,  to  do  tlie 
same,  should  it  prove  to  be  that  "  mass  of  absurdity,  bigotry, 
superstition,  idolatry,  and  immorality,"  which  you,  sir,  and 
most  Protestants  conceive  it  to  be  ;  nay,  even  if  I  should  not 
succeed  in  clearing  it  of  these  respective  charges.  To  reli- 
gious controversy,  when  originating  in  its  proper  motives,  a  de- 
sire of  serving  God  and  securing  our  salvation,  I  cannot  declare 
myself  an  enemy,  without  virtually  condemning  the  conduct 
of  Christ  himself,  who,  on  every  occasion,  arraigned  and  refuted 
the  errors  of  the  Pharisees :  but  I  cannot  conceive  any  hy. 
pocrisy  so  detestable  as  that  of  mounting  the  pulpit  or  employing 
the  pen  on  sacred  subjects,  to  serve  our  temporal  interests,  oui 
resentment,  or  our  pride,  under  pretext  of  promoting  or  defend- 
ing religious  truth.  To  inquirers  in  the  former  predicament, 
1  hold  myself  a  debtor,  as  I  have  already  said  ;  but  the  cir- 
cumsiances  must  be  extraordinary,  to  induce  me  to  hold  a  com- 
m.jnication  with  persons  in  the  latter.  Lastly,  as  you  appear, 
sir,  to  approve  of  the  plan  1  spoke  of  in  my  first  letter  to  Dr. 
iSturges,  I  mean  to  pursue  it  on  the  present  occasion.  This, 
however,  will  necessarily  throw  back  the  examination  of  your 
charges  to  a  considerable  distance,  as  several  other  importanJ 
inquiries  must  precede  it. — I  am,  &c., 

John  Milnes. 


DISPOSITIONS.  2m 

LETTER  III. 

fROM  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  TO  THE  REV  JOHN  MILNER,  D.D 

PRELIMINARIES. 

New  Cottage  October  30,  180L 
Reverend  sir — 

I  HAVE  been  favored,  in  due  course,  with  yours  of  the  20th 
instant,  which  .  have  communicated  to  those  persons  of  our  so- 
ciety whom  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing.  No  circum- 
stance could  stril^e  us  with  greater  sorrow,  than  that  you  should 
suffer  any  inconvenience  from  your  edifying  promptness  to 
comply  with  our  well-meant  request,  and  we  confidently  trust 
that  nothing  of  the  kind  will  take  place  through  any  fault  com- 
mitted by  us.  We  agree  with  you,  as  to  the  necessity  of  per- 
fect freedom  of  speech,  where  the  discovery  of  important  truths 
is  the  real  object  of  inquiry.  Hence,  while  we  are  at  liberty 
to  censure  many  of  your  popes  and  other  clergy,  Mr.  Topham 
will  not  be  offended  with  any  thing  that  you  can  prove  against 
Calvin,  nor  will  Mr.  Rankin  quarrel  with  you  for  exposing  the 
faults  of  George  Fox  and  James  Naylor,  nor  shall  I  complain 
of  you  for  any  thing  that  you  may  make  out  against  our  ven- 
erable Latimer  or  Cranmer ;  I  say  the  same  of  doctrines  and 
practices  as  of  persons.  If  you  are  guilty  of  idolatry,  or  we 
of  heresy,  we  are  respectively  unfortunate,  and  the  greatest 
act  of  charity  we  can  perform  is  to  point  out  to  each  other  the 
danger  of  our  respective  situations  to  their  full  extent.  Not  to 
renounce  error  and  embrace  truth  of  every  kind,  when  we 
clearly  see  it,  would  be  folly ;  and  to  neglect  doing  this,  when 
the  question  is  concerning  religious  truth,  would  be  folly  am 
wickedness  combined  together.  Finally,  we  cheerfully  leave 
you  to  follow  what  course  you  please,  and  to  whatever  extent 
you  please,  provided  only  that  you  give  us  such  satisfaction  as 
you  are  capable  of  affording,  on  the  subjects  which  I  mentioned 
in  my  former  letter. — I  am,  reverend  sir,  &c., 

James  Brown. 


LETTER  IV.— TO  JAMES  BROWN.  ESQ.,  Ac. 

DISPOSITIONS  FOR  RELIGIOUS  INQUIRY. 

Uear  sir — 

Tha  dispositions  which  you  profess,  on  the  part  of  your 
iriends  as  well  as  yourself,  I  own,  please  me,  and  animate  mo 
to  undertake  the  task  you  impose  upon  me.     Nevertheless, 

3 


28  LETTER   TV, 

availing  myself  of  the  liberty  of  speech  which  you  and  youi 
friends  allow  me,  I  am  compelled  to  observe,  that  there  is  no- 
thing in  which  men  are  more  apt  to  labor  under  a  delusion^ 
than  by  imagining  themselves  to  be  free  from  religi^Ais  preju- 
dices, sincere  in  seeking  after,  and  resolved  to  embrace  the 
truth  of  religion,  in  opposition  to  their  preconceived  opiniora 
and  worldly  interests.  How  many  imitate  Pilate,  who,  when 
he  had  asked  our  Saviour  the  question,  What  is  truth  ?  pres- 
ently went  out  of  his  company  before  he  could  receive  an  an- 
swer to  it!  John,  xviii.  38.  How  many  others  resemble  the 
rich  young  man,  who,  having  interrogated  Christ,  "  W  hat 
good  things  shall  1  do  that  I  may  have  eternal  life  ?"  when  this 
Divine  Master  answered  him,  "  H  thou  wilt  be  perfect,  go  and 
sell  what  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor ; — went  away  sorrow- 
ful !"  Matt.  xix.  22.  Finally,  how  many  more  act  like  cer. 
tain  presumptuous  disciples  of  our  Lord,  who,  when  he  had 
propounded  to  them  a  mystery  beyond  their  conception,  that  of 
the  real  presence,  in  these  words,  "  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed, 
and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed;" — said,  "This  is  a  hard  saying  ; 
who  can  hear  it  ? — and  went  back  and  walked  no  more  with 
him  !"  John,  vi.  56.  O !  if  all  Christians,  of  the  different 
sects  and  opinions,  were  but  possessed  of  the  sincerity,  disin- 
terestedness,  and  earnestness  to  serve  their  God  and  save  their 
souls,  which  a  Francis  Walsingham,  kinsman  to  the  great 
statesman  of  that  name  ;  a  Hugh  Paulin  Cressy,  Dean  of  Leigb- 
lin  and  Prebendary  of  Windsor  ;  and  an  Antony  Ulric,  Duke 
of  Brunswick  and  Lunenburgh,  proved  themselves  to  have 
been  possessed  of,  the  first  in  his  Search  into  Matters  of  Religion, 
tne  second  in  his  Exomologesis,  or  Motives  of  Conversion,  &c., 
and  the  last  in  his  Fifty  Reasons ;  how  soon  would  all  and 
every  one  of  our  controversies  cease,  and  all  of  us  be  united  in 
one  faith,  hope,  and  charity !  I  will  here  transcribe,  from  th<? 
preface  to  the  Fifty  Reasons,  what  the  illustrious  relative  of  bis 
majesty  says,  concerning  the  dispositions  with  which  he  sei 
about  inquiring  into  the  grounds  and  diflferences  of  the  several 
systems  of  Christianity,  when  he  be  began  to  entertain  doubti 
cx)ncerning  the  truth  of  that  in  which  he  had  been  educatea, 
ramely,  Lutheranism.  He  says — "  First,  I  earnestly  implore-j 
t'le  aid  and  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  all  my  powei 
begged  the  light  of  true  faith,  from  God,  the  Father  of  lights,  &c 
Secondly,  I  made  a  strong  resolution,  by  the  grace  of  God,toavoi.i 
sin,  well  knowing  that  '  Wisdom  will  not  erter  into  a  corrupt 
mind;  ntor  dwell  in  a  body  subject  to  sin,'  Wisd.  i.  4,  and  J 
am  convinced,  and  was  so  then,  that  the  reason  why  so  many 
are  ignorant  of  the  true  faith,  and  do  not  embrace  it,  is,  be- 
cause they  are  plungei  In  several  vices,  and  particularly  car- 


METHOD.  21 

nal  sins.  Thirdly,  I  renounced  all  sorts  of  prejudices,  what, 
ever  they  were,  which  incline  men  to  one  religion  more  than 
another,  and  which,  unhappily,  I  might  formerly  have  espoused ; 
and  I  brought  myself  to  a  perfect  indifference,  so  as  to  be  ready 
to  embrace  whichsoever  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the 
light  of  reason  should  point  out  to  me,  without  any  regard  to 
the  advantages  and  inconveniences  that  might  attend  it  in  this 
world.  Lastly,  I  entered  upon  this  aeliberation  and  this  choice, 
111  the  manner  I  should  have  wished  to  have  done  it  at  the  hour 
01*  my  death,  and  in  a  full  conviction  that,  at  the  day  of  judg. 
ment,  I  must  give  an  account  to  God  why  I  followed  this  reli 
gion  in  preference  to  all  the  rest."  The  princely  inquirer 
finishes  this  account  of  himself  with  the  following  awful  reflec- 
tions. "  Man  has  but  one  soul,  which  will  be  eternally  either 
damned  or  saved.  What  doth  it  avail  a  man  to  gain  the 
whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  V  Matt.  xvi.  26.  Eternity 
knows  no  end.  The  course  of  it  is  perpetual.  It  is  a  series  of 
unlimited  duration.  There  is  no  comparison  between  things 
infinite  and  those  which  are  not  so.  O  !  the  happiness  of  the 
eternity  of  the  saints  !  O  !  the  wretchedness  of  the  eternity  of 
the  damned  !     One  of  these  two  eternities  awaits  us  !" 

I  remain,  sir,  yours,  &c- 

JOHN    MlLNEhf 


LETTER  v.— TO  JAMES  KROWN,  ESQ. 

METHOD  OF  FINDING  OUT  THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 

Dear  sir — 

It  is  obvious  to  common  sense,  that  in  order  to  find  out 
any  hidden  thing,  or  to  do  any  difficult  thing,  we  must 
first  discover,  and  then  follow  the  proper  method  for  such 
purpose.  If  we  do  not  take  the  right  road  to  any  distant 
place,  it  cannot  be  expected  that  we  should  arrive  at  it. 
It  we  get  hold  of  a  wrong  clue,  we  shall  never  extricate 
ourselves  from  a  labyrinth.  Some  persons  choose  their  reli- 
gion as  they  do  their  clothes,  by  fancy.  They  are  pleased,  for 
example,  with  the  talents  of  a  preacher,  when  presently  they 
adopt  his  creed.  Many  adhere  to  tneir  religious  system,  nierely 
because  they  were  educated  in  it,  and  because  it  was  that  of 
tneir  parents  and  family ;  which,  if  it  were  a  reasonable  mo- 
tive for  their  resolution,  would  equally  excuse  Jews,  Turks,  and 
Pagans,  in  adhering  to  their  respective  impieties,  and  would 
impeach  the  preaching  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  Others 
glory  in  their  religion,  because  it  is  the  one  established  in  this 
their  country,  so  renowned  for  scien  rature,  acd  arms ; 


28  LETTER   ▼. 

not  reflecting  that  the  polished  and  conquering  nations  of  an 
tiquity,  the;  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Persians,  Greeks,  and  Rn. 
mans,  were  left,  by  the  inscrutable  judgments  of  God,  in  dark- 
ness and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  whilst  a  poor  oppressed  and 
despised  people,  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  were  the  only  de. 
pository  of  divine  truth,  and  the  sole  truly  enliglitened  nation. 
But,  far  the  greater  part  even  of  Christians,  of  every  denonni. 
nation,  make  the  ousiness  of  eternity  subservient  to  that  of 
time,  and  profess  the  religion  which  suits  best  with  their  interest, 
their  reputation,  and  their  convenience.  I  trust  that  none  of 
your  respectable  society  fall  under  any  of  these  descriptions. 
They  all  have,  or  fancy  that  they  have,  a  rational  method  of 
discovering  religious  truth ;  in  other  words,  an  adequate  rule 
of  faith.  Before  I  enter  into  any  disquisition  on  this  all-im- 
portant controversy  concerning  the  right  rule  of  faith,  on  which 
the  determination  of  every  other  depends,  T  will  lay  down  three 
fundamental  maxims,  the  truth  of  w/iich,  I  apprehend,  no  /a- 
tional  Christian  will  dispute. 

First,  Our  Divine  Master,  Christ,  in  estahlishing  a  religion 
here  on  ef.rth,  to  which  all  the  nations  of  it  were  invited,  Matt, 
xviii.  19,  left  some  RULE  or  method  by  which  those  persons  who 
sincerely  seek  for  it,  may  with  certainty  find  it. 

Secon  lly.  This  rule  or  method  must  he  SECURE  and  never 
failing  ;  so  as  not  to  be  ever  liable  to  lead  a  rational,  sincere  in- 
quirer intt  error,  impiety,  or  immorality  of  any  kind. 

Thirdly.  This  rule  or  method  must  be  UNIVERSAL,  that  is 
to  say,  adapted  to  the  abilities  and  circumstances  of  all  those  per- 
sons for  whom  the  rehgion  itself  is  intended  ;  namely,  tlie  great 
hulk  of  mankind. 

By  adhering  to  these  undeniable  maxims,  we  shall  quickly, 
dear  sir,  and  clearly,  discover  the  method  appointed  by  Christ 
for  arriving  at  the  knowledge  of  the  truths  which  he  has  taught; 
in  other  words,  at  the  right  rule  of  faith.  Being  possessed  of 
this  rule,  we  shall,  of  course,  have  nothing  else  to  do  than  to 
make  use  of  it,  for  securely,  and,  I  trust,  amicably  settling  all 
our  controversies.  This  is  the  short  and  satisfactory  method 
of  composing  religious  differences,  which  I  alluded  to  in  my 
al)ove-mentioned  letter  to  Dr.  Sturges.  To  discuss  them  all, 
separately,  is  an  endless  task,  whereas  this  method  reduces 
Ihem  o  a  single  question. — I  am,  kc, 

John  Milnee. 


FIRST    FALLACIOUS    RULE.  29 

LETTER  VI.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ. 
THE  FIRST  FALLACIOUS  RULE  OF  FAITH. 

Dear  sir — 

Among  serious  Christians,  who  profess  to  make  the  discoYi»:y 
and  practice  of  religion  their  first  and  earnest  care,  three  Jif. 
ferent  methods  or  rules  have  been  adopted  for  this  purpose. 
The  first  consists  in  a  supposed  private  inspiration,  or  an  im 
mediate  light  and  motion  of  God's  spirit,  communicated  to  the 
mdivid\ial.  This  was  the  rule  of  faith  and  conduct  formeily 
professed  by  the  Montanists,  the  Anabaptists,  the  Family  of 
Love,  and  is  now  professed  by  the  Quakers,  the  Moravians,  and 
different  classes  of  the  Methodists.  The  second  of  these  rules, 
is  the  written  icord  of  God,  or  THE  BIBLE,  according  as  it  is 
understood  hy  each  particular  reader  or  hearer  of  it.  This  is  the 
professed  rule  of  the  more  regular  sects  of  Protestants,  such  as 
the  Lutherans,  the  Calvinists,  the  Socinians,  the  Church-of- 
England-men.  The  third  rule  is  THE  WORD  OF  GOD,  at 
large,  whether  written  in  the  Bible,  or  handed  down  from  the  apos. 
ties  in  continued  succession  by  the  Catholic  Church,  and  as  it  is  un- 
derstood and  explained  by  this  church.  To  speak  more  accu- 
rately, besides  their  rule  of  fahh,  which  is  scripture  and  tradition, 
Catholics  acknowledge  an  unerring  judge  of  controversy,  or  sure 
guide  ill  all  matters  relating  to  salvation, — nainely,  THE 
CHURCH.  I  shall  now  proceed  to  show  that  the  first-men- 
tioned rule,  namely,  a  supposed  private  inspiration,  is  totally 
fallacious,  inasmuch  as  it  is  liable  to  conduct,  and  lias  conducted 
many  into  acknowledged  errors  and  impiety. 

About  the  middle  of  the  second  age  of  Christianity,  Monta- 
nus,  Maximilla,  and  Priscilla,  with  their  followers,  by  adopting 
this  enthusiastical  rule,  rushed  into  the  excess  of  folly  and 
blasphemy.  They  taught  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  having  failed  to 
save  mankind,  by  Moses,  ana  afterwards  by  Christ,  had  en- 
lightened and  sanctified  them  to  accomplish  this  great  work. 
The  strictness  of  cheir  precepts,  and  the  apparent  sanctity  of  heii 
lives,  deceived  many  ;  till  at  length,  the  two  former  proved  hal 
spirit  they  were  guided  by,  in  hanging  themselves.*  Several  othei 
heretics  became  dupes  of  the  same  principles  in  the  primi  *ve 
and  the  middle  ages  ;  but  it  was  reserved  for  the  time  f«f  reli- 
gious licentiousness,  improperly  called  the  Reformation,  to  dis- 
play  the  full  extent  of  its  absurdity  and  impiety.  In  le.ss  than 
five  years  after  Luther  had  sounded  the  trunpet  of  evangelical 
'iberty,  the  sect  of  Anabaptists  arose  in  Geriiany  and  the  Low 

•  Euseb.  Eccles.  Hist.  1.  v.  c   15 
3* 


so  LETTER    VI. 

Countries.  The/"  professed  to  hold  immediate  communication 
^ith  God,  and  to  be  commanded  by  him  to  despoil  and  kill  all 
-he  wickeil,  and  to  establish  a  kingdom  of  the  just,*  who  to  be- 
some  such,  were  all  to  be  re-baptized.  Carlostad,  Luther's 
<rst  disciple  of  note,  embraced  this  ultra-reformation  ;  but  its 
acknowledged  head,  during  his  reign,  was  John  Bockhold,  a 
(ailor  of  Leyden,  who  proclaimed  himself  King  of  Sion,  and, 
during  a  certain  time,  was  really  sovereign  of  Munster,  in 
Lower  Germany.  Here  he  committed  the  greatest  imaginable 
excesses,  marrying  eleven  wives  at  a  time,  and  putting  them, 
and  numberless  others  of  his  subjects  to  death,  at  the  motion 
Df  his  supposed  interior  spirit. f  He  declared  that  God  had 
made  him  a  present  of  Amsterdam  and  other  cities,  which  he 
sent  parties  of  his  disciples  to  take  possession  of.  These  ran 
naked  through  the  streets,  howling  out,  "  Wo  to  Babylon  ;  wo 
to  the  wicked  ;"  and,  when  they  were  apprehended,  and  on  the 
point  of  being  executed  for  their  seditions  and  murders,  they 
sang  and  danced  on  the  scaffold,  exulting  in  the  imaginary  light 
of  their  spirit. J  Herman,  another  Anabaptist,  was  moved  by 
his  spirit  to  declare  himself  the  Messiah,  and  thus  to  evangelize 
the  people,  his  hearers  :  "  Kill  the  priests,  kill  all  the  magis- 
trates  in  the  world.  Repent:  your  redemption  is  at  hand."§ 
One  of  their  chief  and  most  accredited  preachers,  David 
George,  persuaded  a  numerous  sect  of  them,  that  "  the  doc- 
trine both  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  was  imperfect, 
but  that  his  own  was  perfect,  and  that  he  was  the  true  Son  of 
God.'^W  I  do  not  notice  these  impieties  and  other  crimes  for 
their  singularity  or  their  atrociousness,  but  because  they  were 
committed  upon  the  principle  and  under  a  full  conviction  of  an 
individual  and  uncontrollable  inspiration,  on  the  part  of  their 
dupes  and  perpetrators. 

Nor  has  our  own  country  been  more  exempt  from  this  enthu- 
siastic  principle  than  Germany  and  Holland.  Nicholas,  a  dis- 
ciple of  the  above-mentioned  David  George,  came  over  to  Eng- 
land with  a  supposed  commission  from  God,  to  teach  men  that 
the  essence  of  religion  consists  in  the  feelings  of  divine  love, 
and  that  all  other  things  relating  either  to  faith  cr  worship,  are 
of  no  moment. IT  He  extended  this  maxim  even  to  the  funda. 
mental  precepts  of  morality,  professing  to  continue  in  sin  that 

•  "  Cum  Deo  colloquium  esse  et  mandatum  habere  se  dicebant,  ut,  impiis 
•mnibus  interfectis,  novum  constituerent  mundum,  in  quo  pii  solum  et  inno. 

tentes  viverent  et  rerum  potirentur." Sleidan,  De  Stat.  Rel.  et  Reip 

Comment.  1.  iii.  p.  45. 

t  Hist,  abrgd.  de  la  Rdf'orm.  par  Gerard  Brandt,  torn.  i.  p.  46.  Mosheim 
Eccles.  Hist,  by  Maclainq  vol.  iv.  p.  452.  t  Brandt,  p.  49,  &c 

^  Idem,  J .  51  iJ  Mosheim,  vol.  i^.  p.  484.  IT  Ibid  Brandt. 


riKST    FALLACIOUS    RULE.  SI 

^ra  je  might  abound.  His  followers,  under  the  nanne  of  the 
Famillsts,  or  The  Family  of  Love,  were  very  nunneious  at  the  end 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  about  which  time,  Hacket,  a  Calvinist, 
giving  way  to  the  same  spirit  of  delusion,  became  deeply  per- 
suaded that  the  spirit  of  the  Messiah  had  descended  upon  hinn; 
and  having  made  several  proselytes,  he  sent  two  of  theni, 
Arthington  and  Coppinger,  to  proclaim,  through  the  s^.reets  of 
London,  that  Christ  was  come  thither  with  his  fan  in  his  hai?d. 
This  spirit,  mstead  of  being  repressed,  became  still  more  un 
governable,  at  the  sight  of  the  scaffold  and  the  gibbet  preparea 
in  Cheapside  for  his  execution.  Accordingly  he  continued,  till 
the  last,  exclaiming,  "  Jehovah,  Jehovah  ;  don't  you  see  the 
heavens  open  and  Jesus  coming  to  deliver  me  ?"  &;c.*  Who 
has  not  heard  of  Venner,  and  his  Fifth  Monarchy-men  ?  who, 
guided  by  the  same  private  spirit  of  inspiration,  rushed  from 
their  meeting-house  in  Coleman-street,  proclaiming  that  they 
would  "acknowledge  no  sovereign  but  King  Jesus,  and  that 
they  would  not  sheath  their  swords,  till  they  had  made  Babylon 
(that  is,  monarchy)  a  hissing  and  a  curse,  not  only  in  England, 
but  also  throughout  foreign  countries ;  having  an  assurance 
that  one  of  them  would  put  a  thousand  enemies  to  flight,  and 
two  of  them  ten  thousand."  Venner  being  taken  and  led  to 
execution,  with  several  of  his  followers,  protested  "  it  was  not 
he,  but  Jesus,  who  had  acted  as  their  leader. "'f  I  pass  over 
the  unexampled  follies,  and  the  horrors  of  the  grand  rebellion, 
having  detailed  many  of  them  elsewhere. J  It  is  sufficient  to 
remark,  that  while  many  of  these  were  committed  from  the  li- 
centiousness of  private  interpretation  of  Scripture,  many  others 
originated  in  the  enthusiastic  opinion  which  1  am  now  combat- 
ing, that  of  an  immediate  individual  inspiration,  equal,  if  not 
superior,  to  that  of  the  Scriptures  themselves. § 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  religious  and  civil  commotions 
that  the  most  extraordinary  people,  of  all  those  who  have 
adopted  the  fallacious  rule  of  private  inspiration,  staited  up  at 
the  call  of  George  Fox,  a  shoemaker  of  Leicestershire.  His 
fundamental  propositions,  as  laid  down  by  the  most  able  of  his 
followers,  II  are:  that  The  Scriptures  are  not  the  adequate,  pri^ 
mary  rule  of  faith  and  manners, — lut  a  secondary  rule,  subordu 
Hate  to  the  Spirit,  from  which  they  have  their  excellency  and 
certainty  :"ir  that,  "the  testimony  of  the  Spirit  is  that  alone  by 

*  Fuller's  Church  Hist.  b.  ix.  p.  113.     Stow's  Anna'^,  A.D.    591 

t  Echard's  Hist,  of  Eng.,  &c. 

t  Letters  to  a  Prebendary.     Reign  of  Charles  I. 

§  See  the  remarkable  history  of  militar)'  preachers  at  Kingston.     Ibid. 

ji  Robert  Barclay's  Apology  for  the  Quakers. 

1  Propos.  ILL    In  defending  this  proposition,  Barclay  cites  some  of  ih» 


32  LETTER    VI. 

which  (he  true  knowledge  of  God  ham  been,  is,  and  can  be  re- 
vealed :"*  "  that  all  true  and  acceptable  worship  of  God  is  offered 
in  the  inward  and  immediate  moving  and  drawing  of  his  own 
Spirit,  which  is  neither  limited  to  places,  times,  nor  persons. "•)* 
Such  are  the  avowed  principles  of  the  people  called  Quakers  : 
let  us  now  see  some  of  the  fruits  of  those  principles,  as  recorded 
by  themselves  in  their  founder  and  first  apostles. 

George  Fox  tells  of  himself,  that  at  the  beginning  of  hia 
mission  he  was  "  moved  to  go  to  several  courts  and  steeple- 
houses  (churches)  at  Mansfield  and  other  places,  to  warn  them 
to  leave  off  oppression  and  oaths,  and  to  turn  from  deceit,  and 
to  turn  to  the  Lord."f  On  these  occasions  the  language  and 
behavior  of  his  spirit  was  very  far  from  the  meekness  and  re- 
spect for  constituted  authorities  of  the  Gospel  Spirit,  as  appears 
from  different  passages  in  his  journal. §  He  tells  us  of  one  of 
bis  disciples,  William  Simpson,  who  was  "  moved  of  the  Lord 
to  go,  at  several  times,  for  three  years,  naked  and  barefoot  be- 
fore them,  as  a  sign  unto  them,  in  markets,  courts,  towns, 
cities,  to  priests'  houses,  and  to  great  men's  houses,  telling  them, 
so  should  they  all  he  stripped  naked.''  Another  Friend,  one 
Robert  Huntingdon,  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go  into  Carlisle 
steeple-house,  with  a  white  sheet  about  him.||  We  are  told  of 
a  female  Friend  who  went  "stark  naked,  in  the  midst  of  public 
worship,  into  Whitehall  chapel,  when  Cromwell  was  there;" 
and  of  another  woman,  who  came  "  into  the  parliament  house 
with  a  trencher  in  her  hand,  which  she  broke  in  pieces,  saying, 
"  Thus  shall  he  be  broke  in  pieces.''  One  of  these  Friends 
came  to  the  door  of  the  parliament  house  with  a  drawn  sword, 
and  wounded  several,  saying,  "  he  mas  inspired  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  kill  every  man  that  sat  in  that  house. "IT     But  in  no 

Friends,  who  being  unable  to  read  the  Scriptures,  even  in  the  vulgar  Ian. 
guage,  and  being  pressed  by  their  adver'jaries  with  passages  from  it,  boldly 
denied,  from  the  manifestation  of  trut?  in  their  own  hearts^  that  such  pas. 
gages  were  contained  in  the  Scripture,  p.  82. 

*  Propos.  II.  t  Propos.  XI. 

}  See  the  Journal  of  George  Fox,  written  by  himself,  and  published  by 
his  disciple  Penn,  son  of  Admiral  Pcnn,  folio,  p.  17. 

§  I  sliall  satisfy  myself  with  citing  part  of  his  letter,  written  in  1660,  to 
Charles  II. — "  King  Charles,  thou  camest  not  into  this  nation  by  sword,  nor 
by  victory  of  war,  but  by  the  power  of  the  Lord. — And  if  thou  dost  bear 
the  sword  in  vain,  and  let  drunkenness,  oaths,  plays.  May-games,  with  fid. 
dlers,  drums,  and  trumpets  to  play  at  them,  with  such-like  abominations  and 
vanities,  be  encouraged,  or  go  unpunished,  as  setting  up  of  May.poles,  with 
the  image  of  the  crown  a-top  of  them,  the  nation  will  quickly  turn,  like 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  be  as  bad  as  the  old  world,  who  grieved  the 
Lord  till  he  ove  -threw  them ;  and  so  he  will  you,  if  these  things  be  not  aud 
donly  prevented,"  &c. — G.  F.'s  .Tournal,  p.  225. 

I  Journal,  p.  339.  IT  Maciaine's  note  on  MoBheim  vol.  v.  p.  470 


FIRST    FALLACIOUS    RULE.  '13 

occurrence  has  George  Fox  and  his  followers  been  so  embar- 
rassed to  save  Ineir  rule  of  faith,  as  they  have  been  to  reconcile 
with  it  the  conduct  of  the  noted  James  Naylor.*  When  cer- 
tain low  and  disorderly  people,  in  Hampshire,  disgraced  their 
society,  and  became  obnoxious  .o  the  laws,  G.  Fox  disowned 
then.jf  but  when  a  Friend,  of  James  Naylor's  chara/^+^T-  and 
serv  ces,J  became  the  laughing-stock  of  the  nation,  for  ms  pie. 
sumption  and  blasphemy,  there  was  no  other  way  for  the  so- 
ciety to  separate  his  cause  from  their  own,  but  by  abandoning 
their  fundamental  principle,  which  leaves  every  man  to  follow 
the  spirit  within  him,  as  he  himself  feels  H.  The  fact  is,  James 
Naylor,  like  so  many  other  dupes  of  a  supposed  private  spirit, 
fancied  himself  to  be  the  Messiah,  and  in  this  character  he  rode 
into  Bristol,  his  disciples  spreading  their  garments  before  him, 
and  crying,  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Hosannah  m  the  highest!  Being 
scourged  by  order  of  Parliament,  for  his  impiety,  he  permitted 
the  fascinated  women,  who  followed  him,  to  kiss  his  feet  and  his 
wounds,  and  to  hail  him  "  the  Prince  of  Peace,  the  Rose  of 
Sharon,  the  fairest  of  '  ten  thousand,'  "  &c.§ 

I  pass  over  many  sects  of  less  note,  as  the  Muggletoni- 
ans,  the  Labbadists,  &c.,  who,  by  pursuing  the  meteor  of  a 
supposed  inward  light,  were  led  into  the  most  impious  and  im- 
moral practices.  Allied  to  these  are  the  Moravian  Brethren, 
or  Hernhutters,  so  called  from  Hernhuth,  in  Moravia,  where 
their  apostle,  Count  Zindendorf,  made  an  establishment  for  them. 
They  are  now  spread  over  England,  with  ministers  and  bishops 
ftppointed  by  others  resident  in  Hernhuth.  Their  rule  of  faith, 
as  laid  down  by  Zindendorf,  is  an  imaginary  inward  light, 
against  which  the  true  believer  cannot  sin.  This  they  are 
laugh",  to  wait  for  in  quiet,  omitting  prayer,  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptares,  and  other  works. "^     They  deny  that  even  the  moral 

*  See  History  of  the  Quakers,  by  William  Sevvel,  folio,  p.  138.  JournaJ 
of  G.  Fox,  p.  220. 

t  Journal  of  G.  Fox,  p.  320. 

\  Ibid.  p.  220.     Sewel's  Hist,  of  Quakers,  p.  140. 

§  Echard's  Hist.  Maclaine's  Mosheim.  Neal's  Hist,  of  the  Puritans.  In 
closing  this  account  of  the  Quakers  we  may  remark,  that  there  is  no  appear- 
ance yet  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  confident  prophecy  with  which  Barcky 
concludes  his  Apology  :  "  That  little  spark  (Quakerism)  that  hath  appeared 
shall  grow  to  the  consuming  of  whatsoever  shall  stand  up  to  oppose  it.  The 
mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it !  Yea  ;  he  that  hath  risen  in  a  small 
•■emnan%  shall  arise  and  go  on  by  the  same  arm  of  power  in  his  spiritual 
manifestation,  until  he  hath  conquered  all  his  enemies  ;  until  all  the  king, 
doms  of  the  earth  become  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ." 

II  Wesley,  in  a  letter  which  he  inscribes,  *'To  the  Church  ot  God  at 
Hernhuth,"  says,  "  There  are  many  whom  your  brethren  have  i^dvised, 
though  not  in  then  public  preaching,  not  to  use  the  Ordinances — reading  tiif 
Bcriplu  re,  praying   sommunicatin^    as  tke  doing  of  tiestj  things  is  «u  <;A:tiif 


34  LETTER    V!. 

law  confRinei  in  the  Scriptures  is  a  rule  of  life  for  believers. 
Having  considered  this  system  in  all  its  bearings,  we  are  the 
less  surprised  at  the  disgusting  obscenity,  mingled  with  blas- 
phemy, which  is  to  be  met  with  in  the  theological  tracts  of  the 
German  count.* 

The  next  system  of  delusion  which  I  shall  mention,  as  pro. 
ceeding  from  the  fatal  principle  of  an  interior  rule  of  faiih^ 
though  framed  in  England,  was  also  the  work  of  a  foreign  no- 
bleman,  the  Baron  Swedenborgh.  His  first  supposed  revelation 
was  at  an  eating-house  in  London,  about  the  year  1745.  "Af- 
ter 1  had  dined,"  says  he,  "  a  man  appeared  to  me  sitting  in 
the  corner  of  the  room,  who  cried  out  to  me  with  a  terrible 
voice,  DoTi't  eat  so  much.  The  following  night  the  same  man 
appeared  to  me,  shining  with  light,  and  said  to  me,  /  am  the 
lord,  your  Creator  and  Redeemer  :  I  have  chosen  you  to  explain 
fx)  iii-'n  the  interior  and  spiritual  sense  of  the  Scriptures  :  I  will 
dictate  to  you  lohat  you  are  to  write.'f  His  imaginary  communi- 
ccitiDns  with  God  and  the  angels  were  as  frequent  and  familiar 
as  those  of  Mahomed,  and  his  conceptions  of  heavenly  things 
were  as  gross  and  incoherent  as  those  of  the  Arabian  impostor. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  his  God  is  a  mere  man,  his  angels  are 
male  a.nd  female,  who  marry  together  and  follow  various  trades 
and  professions.  Finally,  his  Neio  Jerusalem,  which  is  to  be 
spread  over  the  whole  earth,  is  so  little  different  from  this  sub- 
lunary world,  that  the  entrance  to  it  is  imperceptible. X  So  far 
is  true,  that  the  New  Jerusalemites  are  spread  throughout 
England,  and  have  chapels  in  most  of  its  principal  towns. § 

galvation  by  works.  Some  of  our  English  brethren  (Moravians;  say :  you 
will  never  have  faith  till  you  leave  off  the  church  and  the  sacraments :  as 
many  go  to  hell  by  praying  as  by  thieving."  Journal,  1740. — John  Nelson 
in  his  journal  tell>s  us,  that  the  Moravians  call  their  religion  The  Liberty  of 
the  Poor  Sinnership ;  adding,  that  they  "  sell  their  prayer-books,  and  leave 
off  reading  and  praying,  to  follow  the  Lamb." 

*  See  Maclaine's  Ilist.  vol.  vi.  p.  23,  and  Bishop  Warburton's  Doctrine  of 
Grace,  quoted  by  him. 

t  Barruel's  Hist,  du  Jacobinisme,  torn.  iv.  p.  118.  X  Ibid. 

§  Since  the  above  letter  was  written,  another  sect,  the  Joannites,  or  dis- 
ciples of  Joanna  Southcote,  have  risen  to  notice  by  their  number  and  the 
•ingularity  of  their  tenets.  This  female  apostle  has  been  led  by  her  spirit  to 
believe  herself  to  be  the  woman  of  Genesis,  destined  to  crush  the  head  of  tta 
infernal  spirit,  with  whom  she  supposes  herself  to  have  had  daily  battle^  .o 
the  effusion  of  his  blood.  She  believes  herself  to  be,  likewise,  the  woman 
of  the  Revelations  crowned  with  twelve  stars,  which  are  so  many  minislera 
of  the  Established  Church.  In  fact,  one  of  these,  a  richly  beneficed  rector, 
and  of  a  noble  family,  acts  as  her  sec.-etary  in  writing  and  sealing  passports 
to  heaven,  which  she  supposes  herself  authorized  to  issue,  to  the  number  oC 
144,000,  at  a  very  moderate  price.  One  of  these  passports  in  due  form  is  in 
the  writer's  possession.  It  is  scaled  with  ihree  seals.  The  first  exhibits 
two  fctars,  namely,  las  morning  star,  to  represent  Christ  the  evening  star  *o 


FIRST    FALLACIOUS    RVLE  35 

I  am  sorry  lobe  obliged  to  enter  upon  the  same  list  ^\ith 
those  enihusiasts,  a  numerous  class,  many  oi'them  very  respect- 
able, of  modern  religionists,  called  Methodists  ;  yet,  since  their 
avowed  system  of  faith  is,  that  this  consists  in  an  instantaneous 
illapse  of  God's  Spirit  into  the  souls  of  certain  persons,  by  which 
they  are  convinced  of  their  justification  and  salvation,  without 
reterence  to  Scripture  or  any  other  proof,  they  cannot  be  placed, 
as  to  their  rule  of  faith,  under  any  other  denomination.  This, 
according  to  their  founder's  doctrine,  is  the  only  article  offa'th; 
all  other  articles  he  terms  opinions,  of  which  he  says,  "the 
Methodists  do  not  lay  any  stress  on  them,  whether  right  or 
wrong."*  He  continues,  "  I  am  sick  of  opinions  ;  I  am  weary 
to  bear  them  ;  my  soul  loathes  this  frothy  food."f  Conformably 
with  this  latitudinarian  system,  Wesley  opens  heaven  indiscrim- 
inately to  Churchmen,  Presbyterians,  Independents,  Quakers, 
and  even  to  Catholics. J  Addressing  the  last  named,  he  ex- 
claims, "  O  that  God  would  write  in  your  hearts  the  rules  of 
self-denial  and  love  laid  down  by  Thomas  a  Kempis  ;  or  that 
you  would  follow,  in  this  and  in  good  works,  the  burning  and 
shining  light  of  your  own  church,  the  Marquis  of  Renty.§ 
Then  would  all  who  know  and  love  the  truth,  rejoice  to  acknow- 
ledge you  as  the  church  of  the  living  God."|| 

At  the  first  rise  of  Methodism  in  Oxford,  A.D.  1729,  John 
Wesley  and  his  companions  were  plain,  serious,  Church-of- 
England-men,  assiduous  and  methodical  in  praying,  reading, 
fasting,  and  the  like.  What  they  practised  themselves,  they 
preached  to  others  both  in  England  and  in  America ;  till  be- 
coming intimate  with  the  Moravian  brethren,  and  particularly 
with  Peter  Bohler,  one  of  their  elders,  John  Wesley  "  became 
convinced  of  unbelief,  namely,  a  want  of  that  faith  whereby  alone 
we  are  saved.''^  Speaking  of  his  past  life  and  ministry,  he 
says,   "  I   was  fundamentally  a  Papist,  and  knew  it  not."** 

represent  herself.  The  second  seal  exhibits  the  lion  of  Juda,  supposed  to 
allude  to  the  insane  prophet,  Richard  Brothers.  The  third  shows  the  face  of 
Joanna  herself.  Of  late  her  inspiration  has  taken  a  new  turn :  she  believea 
herself  to  be  pregnant  of  the  Messiah,  and  her  followers  have  prepared  silver 
vessels  of  various  sorts  for  his  use,  when  he  shall  be  born. 

*  Wesley's  Appeal,  P.  iii.  p.  134.  t  Ibid.  p.  135. 

t  Appeal 

§  His  life  is  written  in  French,  by  Pfere  St.  Jure,  a  Jesuit,  and  abridged 
in  English  by  J.  Wesley. 

I!  In  his  Popery  Calmly  Considered,  p.  20,  Wesley  writes  :  "  I  firmly  be- 
lieve that  many  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome  have  been  holy  men,  and 
that  many  a-e  so  now."  He  elsewhere  says,  "  Several  of  them  (Papists) 
have  attained  to  as  high  a  pitch  of  sanctity,  as  human  nature  is  capable  of 
arriving  at." 

If  Whitehead's  1.:%  ^r  Tohn  and  Charles  Wesley,  vol.  it.  p.  f58. 

**  J  jiirnal.  A.  O     73:*.     tLlsewhero  Wealey  says  .  ^'  O  what  a  work  hM 


86  LETTER    VI. 

Soon  after  this  persuasion,  namely,  on  May  24,  1739,  "  Going 
into  a  society  in  Aldersgate-street,"  he  says,  "  whilst  a  person 
was  reading  Luther's  preface  to  the  Romans,  about  a  quarter 
before  nine,  I  felt  my  heart  strangely  warmed  ;  I  felt  I  did 
trust  in  Christ,  in  Christ  alone  for  salvation,  and  an  assu- 
rance was  given  me  that  he  had  taken  away  my  suis,  cten  mmef 
and  saved  me  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death.'^'^ 

What  were,  now,  the  unavoidable  consequences  of  a  difFu- 
•ion  of  this  doctrine  among  the  people  at  large  ^  Let  us  hear 
tnem  from  Wesley's  most  able  disciple  and  destined  successor, 
Fletcher  of  Madeley.  "  Antinomian  principles  and  practices," 
he  says,  "  have  spread  like  wild-fire  among  our  societies. 
Many  persons,  speaking  in  the  most  glorious  manner  of  Christ, 
and  their  interest  in  his  complete  salvation,  have  been  found 
living  in  the  greatest  immoralities. — How  few  of  our  societies, 
where  cheating,  extorting,  or  some  other  evil  hath  not  broke 
out,  and  given  such  shakes  to  the  ark  of  the  Gospel,  that,  had 
not  the  Lord  interposed,  it  must  have  been  overset  !f  I  have 
seen  them  who  pass  for  believers,  follow  the  strain  of  corrupt 
nature  ;  and  when  they  should  have  exclaimed  against  Anti- 
nomianism,  I  have  heard  them  cry  out  against  the  legality  of 
their  wicked  hearts,  which,  they  said,  still  suggested  that  they 
were  to  DO  something  for  their  salvation.'^j^  "  How  few  of  our 
celebrated  pulpits,  where  more  has  not  been  said  for  sin  than 
against  it  .'§  The  same  candid  writer,  laying  open  the  foul- 
ness of  his  former  system,  charges  Richard  Hill,  Esq.,  who 
persisted  in  it,  with  maintaining  that,  "Even  adultery  and  mur- 
der do  not  hurt  the  pleasant  children,  but  rather  work  for  their 
good. "II  "  God  sees  no  sin  in  believers,  whatever  sin  they  com- 
mit. My  sins  might  displease  God  ;  my  person  is  always  ac 
ceptable  to  him.  Though  I  should  outsin  Manasses,  I  should 
not  be  less  a  pleasant  child,  because  God  always  views  me  in 

God  begun  since  Peter  Bohler  came  to  England  !  such  a  one  as  shall  never 
come  to  an  end,  till  heaven  and  earth  pass  away." 

*  Vide  Whitehead,  vol.  ii.  p.  79.  In  a  letter  to  his  brother  Samuel,  John 
♦Vesley  says  :  "  By  a  Christian  I  mean  one  who  ro  believes  in  Christ,  that 
death  hath  no  dominion  over  him,  and  in  this  obvious  sense  of  the  word  I 
waa  not  a  Christian  till  the  24th  of  M^y,  last  year."     Ibid.  105. 

t  Checks  to  Antinom.  vol.  ii  p.  2i  t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  200. 

§  Ibid.  p.  215. 

il  Fletcher's  Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  50.  Agriwila,  one  of  Luther's  first  disci 
ciples,  is  called  the  founder  of  the  Antinomians.  These  hold  that  the  faiih 
ful  are  bound  by  no  law,  either  of  God  or  man,  and  that  good  works  o* 
every  kind  aie  useless  to  salvation  ;  while  Amsdurf,  Lut.ier'spot.companion. 
taught  that  they  are  an  impediment  to  salvation.  Mos'ieim's  EccJcs.  Hist 
by  Maclaine,  vol.  iv.  p.  35,  p.  328.  Eaton,  a  puritan,  in  hi«  Iloneycomh  oj 
Justification,  sa}  s  :  "  Believers  ought  not  to  nioura  f<ii  sia  because  it  v/a 
jMwdoued  befoie  it  was  committed." 


FIRST    FALLACIOUS    RILE.  37 

Christ.  He  ice,  in  the  mit!st  of  adulteries,  murders,  and  incests, 
he  can  addrass  me  with,  •  Thou  art  all  fair,  my  love,  my  unde- 
*iled,  there  is  lo  spot  in  thee.'  "*  "  It  is  a  most  pernicious 
error  of  the  sc.ioolmen  to  distinguish  sins  according  to  ihe  J  act 
and  not  according  to  the  person.'^ — "  Though  I  blame  those  who 
say.  Jet  us  sin  that  grace  may  abound,  yet  adultery,  incest,  and 
murder,  shall  upon  the  whole,  ma.ke  me  holler  on  earth  and  mer- 
rier in  heaven.' '\ 

These  doctrines  and  practices,  casting  great  disgrace  on 
Methodism,  alarmed  its  founder.  He  therefore  held  a  synod  of 
his  chief  preachers,  under  the  title  of  ct  conference,  in  which  he 
and  they  unanimously  abandoned  their  past  fundamental  jmnci- 
pies,  in  the  following  confession  which  they  made.  "  Quest. 
17.  Have  we  not,  unawares,  leaned  too  much  to  Calvinism. 
Ans.  We  are  afraid  we  have.  Q.  18.  Have  we  not  also 
leaned  too  much  to  Antinomianism  ?  A.  We  are  afraid  we 
have.  Q.  20.  What  are  the  main  pillars  of  it?  A.  1.  That 
Christ  abolished  the  moral  law :  2.  That  Christians  therefore 
are  not  obliged  to  observe  it :  3.  That  one  branch  of  Christiap 
liberty  is  liberty  from  observing  the  commandments  of  God,' 
&C.J  The  publication  of  this  retractation,  in  1770,  raised  the 
indignation  of  the  more  rigid  Methodists,  namely  the  Whitfield- 
ites,  Jumpers,  &c.,  all  of  whom  were  under  the  particular  pa- 
tronajre  of  Lady  Huntingdon  :  accordingly  her  chaplain,  the 
Hon.  and  Rev.  Walter  Shirley,  issued  a  circular  letter  by  her 
direction,  calling  a  general  meeting  of  Jier  connection,  as  it  is 
called,  at  Bristol,  to  censure  this  "  dreadful  heresy, '''  which,  as 
Shirley  affirmed,  injured  the  very  fundamentals  of  Christianity  .§ 

Having  exhibited  this  imperfect  sketch  of  the  errors,  contia- 
dictions,  absurdities,  impieties,  and  immoralities,  into  which 
numberless  Christians,  most  of  them,  no  doubt,  sincere  in  their 
belief,  have  fallen,  by  pursuing  phantoms  of  their  imagination 
for  Divine  illuminations,  and  adopting  a  supposed,  immediate, 
and  personal  revelation,  as  the  rule  of  their  faith  and  conduct, 
I  would  request  any  one  of  your  respectable  society,  wjio  may 
si. 11  adhere  to  it,  to  re-consider  the  self-ev  dent  maxim  laid 
down  in  the  beginning  of  this  letter ;  namely,  TJmt  can- 
not he  ihe  rule  of  faith  and  conduct  which  is  liaMe  to  lead  us,  and 
has  led  very  many  ivell-meaning  persons,  into  error  and  impiety  ; 
I  would  remind  him  of  his  frequent  mistakes  and  illusions  re- 
specting things  of  a  temporary  nature ;  then,  painting  to  his 

*  Fletcher,  vol.  iv.  p.  97. 

t  Quoted  by  Fletcher.     See  also  Daubeny's  Guide  to  the  Church,  p  82. 
t  Apud  Whitehead,  p.  21.3.     Benson's  Apology,  p.  208. 
^  Fletcher's  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  5.     Whitehead.     Nightingale's  Portrailare 
of  Methodi;3in,  p.  -ino. 


88  LETTER    VII. 

minfl  thj  all -importance  of  ETERNITY,  that  is,  o'  happmesi 
or  misei'y  inconceivable  and  everlasting,  I  would  address  him 
in  the  words  of  St.  Augustin,  "  Wl>at  is  it  that  you  are  trust- 
ing to,  poor,  weak  soul,  and  blinded  with  the  mists  of  the  flesh: 
what  is  it  you  are  trusting  to  ?" 

John  Mtlner 


LETTER  VII.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,&c. 

OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 
Oear  sir — 

I  HAVE  just  received  a  letter  from  Friend  Rankin  of  Wenlock, 
written  much  in  the  style  of  George  Fox,  and  another  from  Mr. 
Ebenezer  Topham  of  Brosely.  They  both  consist  of  objecfions 
;o  my  last  letter  to  you,  which  they  had  perused  at  New  Cot- 
:age  ;  and  the  writers  of  them  both  request,  that  I  would  ad- 
dress whatever  answer  I  might  give  them,  to  your  villa. 

Friend  Rankin  is  sententious,  yet  civil ;  he  asks,  1st,  whether 
*'  Friends  at  this  day,  and  in  past  times,  and  even  the  faithful 
servant  of  Christ,  George  Fox,  have  not  condemned  the  vain 
imaginations  of  James  Naylor,  Thomas  Bushel,  Perrot,  and  the 
sinful  doings  of  many  others  through  whom  the  word  of  life 
was  blasphemed  in  their  day  among  the  ungodly  ?"  He  asks, 
2dly,  whether  "  numberless  follies,  blasphemies,  and  crimes 
have  not  risen  up  in  the  Roman  Catholic,  as  well  as  in  other 
churches  ?"  He  asks,  3dly,  whether  "  learned  Robert  Bar- 
slay,  in  his  glorious  Apology,  hath  not  shown  forth,  that  The 
testimony  of  the  Spirit  is  that  alone  hy  which  the  true  knoioledge 
of  God  hath  been,  is,  and  can  he  revealed  and  confirmed,  and  this 
not  only  by  the  outward  testimony  of  Scripture,  but  also  by  that 
of  Tertullian,  Hierom,  Augustin,  Gregory  the  Great,  Bernard, 
yea  also  by  Thomas  a  Kempis,  F.  Pacificus  Baker,*  and  many 
others  of  the  Popish  communion,  who,  says  Robert  Barclay, 
*  have  known  and  tasted  the  love  of  God,  and  felt  the  power 
and  virtue  of  God's  Spirit  working  within  them  for  their  salva- 
tion  V  "t 

I  will  first  consider  the  arguments  of  Friend  Rankin, 
grant  him  then,  that  his  founder,  George  Fox,  does  biarae  ;;er- 
tain  extravagancies  of  Naylor,  Perrot,  and  others  his  followers, 
4t  the  same  time  that  he  boasts  of  several  committed  by  him- 
self, by  Simpson,  and  others.^  But  how  does  he  confute  them, 
and  guard  others  against  them  ? — Why,  he  calls  their  authors 

•  An  English  Benedictine  monk,  author  of  "  Santa  Sophia,'  which  is  qua 
led  at  leijgtli  by  Barclay.  t  Apology,  p.  351. 

)  See  Journal  of  G.  Fox,  passim. 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  89 

Rdnters,  and  charges  them  with  running  out!*  No\^-  what 
kind  of  argument  is  this  in  the  mouth  of  G.  Fox  against  any- 
fanatic,  however  furious,  when  ne  himself  has  taught  him,  that 
ne  is  to  listen  to  the  Spirit  of  God  within  himself,  in  preference  to 
the  authority  of  any  man  and  of  all  men,  and  even  of  the  Gospel? 
G.  Fox  was  not  more  strongly  moved  to  believe  that  he  was  the 
messenger  of  Christ,  than  J.  Nay  lor  was  to  believe  that  he  him- 
self was  Christ :  nor  had  he  a  firmer  conviction  that  the  Lord 
forbade  hat-worship,  as  it  is  called,  out  of  prayer,  tnan  7.  Per- 
rotf  and  his  company  had,  that  they  were  forbidden  lo  use  it  in 
prayer.\  2dly,  with  respect  to  the  excesses  and  crimes  com- 
mitted by  many  Catholics  of  different  ranks,  as  well  as  by  other 
men,  in  all  ages,  I  answer,  that  these  have  been  committed,  not 
m  virtue  of  their  rule  of  faith  and  conduct,  but  in  direct  opposi- 
tion to  it ;  as  will  be  more  fully  seen  when  we  come  to  treat  of 
that  rule  :  whereas  the  extravagancies  of  the  Quakers  were 
the  immediate  dictates  of  the  imaginary  spirit,  which  they  fol- 
lowed as  \he\r  guide.  Lastly,  when  the  doctors  of  the  Catholic 
Church  teach  us,  after  the  inspired  writers,  not  to  extinguish,  but 
to  vjalk  in  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  tell  us,  at  the  same  time,  that 
this  Holy  Spirit  invariably  and  necessarily  leads  us  to  hear  the 
church,  and  to  practise  that  humility,  obedience,  and  those  other 
virtues  which  she  constantly  inculcates  :  so  that  if  it  were  pos- 
sible for  "  an  angel  from  heaven  to  preach  another  gospel  than 
what  we  have  received,"  he  ought  to  be  rejected  as  a  spirit  of 
darkness.  Even  Luther,  when  the  Anabaptists  first  broached 
many  of  the  leading  tenets  of  the  Quakers,  required  them  to 
demonstrate  their  pretended  commission  from  God,  by  incon- 
testable miracles,  §  or  submit  to  be  guided  by  his  appointed 
ministers. 

I  have  now  to  notice  the  letter  of  Mr,  Topham.||     Some  of 

*  Speaking  of  James  Naylor,  he  says,  "  I  spake  with  him,  for  I  saw  he 
was  out  and  wrong — he  slighted  what  I  said,  and  was  dark  and  much  oiH.^^ 
Journ.  p.  220. 

t  Journ.  p.  310.  This  and  another  Friend,  J.  Love,  went  on  a  mission 
to  Rome,  to  convert  the  pope  to  Quakerism;  but  his  hoUness  r  ot  understand, 
ing  English,  when  they  addressed  him  with  some  coarse  English  epithets  in 
St,  Peter's  church,  they  had  no  bett«r  success  than  a  female  Friend,  Mary 
Fiiher,  had,  who  went  into  Greece  to  convert  the  great  Turk.  See  Sewel'a 
Hist 

t  "  Now  he  (Fox)  found  also  that  the  Lord  forbade  him  to  put  off  his  hat 
10  any  men  high  or  low  ;  and  he  required  to  thou  and  thee  every  man  and 
woman  without  distinction,  and  not  to  bid  people  good  morrow,  or  good 
evening :  neither  might  he  bow,  or  scrape  with  his  leg."  Sewel's  Hist,  p 
18.     See  there  a  dissertation  on  hat.worship. 

&  Sleidan. 

II  It  was  origin  illy  intended  to  insert  these  arJ  the  other  letters  of  the 
same  description  \  but  as  this  would  have  rendered  tlic  wo'-k  too  bulky,  and, 


40  LKTTER    VII. 

ais  objt:!cti(»ns  have  already  been  answered,  in  my  remarks  on 
Mr,  Rankin's  letter.  What  I  find  particular  in  the  Ibrmei,  is 
the  following  passage :  "  Is  it  possible  to  go  against  conviction 
and  facts  ?  namely,  the  experience  that  very  many  rerious 
Christians  feel,  in  this  day  of  Gocfs  power,  that  they  are  made 
partalcers  of  Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  who  hear  him 
saying  to  the  melting  heart,  with  his  still,  small,  yet  penetrating 
and  renovating  voice.  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee  :  Be  thou  'lean: 
Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole/  If  an  exterior  proo  weie 
wanting  to  show  the  certainty  of  this  interior  conviction,  1  ighl 
refer  to  the  conversion  and  holy  life  of  those  who  have  expe- 
rienced it." — To  this  I  answer,  that  the  facts  and  the  conviction 
which  your  friend  talks  of,  amount  to  nothing  more  than  a  cer- 
tain strength  of  imagination  and  warmth  of  sentiment,  which  may 
be  natural,  or  may  be  produced  by  that  lying  spirit,  whom  God 
sometimes  permits  to  go  forth,  and  to  persuade  the  presumptuous 
to  their  destruction.  1  Kings,  xxii.  22.  I  presume  Mr.  Topham 
will  allow,  that  no  experience  which  he  has  felt  or  witnessed, 
exceeded  that  of  Bockhold,  or  Ilacket,  or  Naylor,  mentioned 
above  ;  who,  nevertheless,  were  confessedly  betrayed  by  it  into 
the  most  horrible  blasphemies  and  atrocious  crimes.  The  virtue 
most  necessary  for  enthusiasts,  because  the  most  remote  from 
them,  is  an  humble  diffidence  in  themselves.  When  Oliver 
Cromwell  was  on  his  death-bed,  Dr.  Godwin,  being  present 
among  oiher  ministers,  prophesied  that  the  protector  would  re- 
cover. Death,  however,  almost  immediately  ensuing,  the  Pu- 
ritan, instead  of  acknowledging  his  error,  cast  the  blame  upon 
Almighty  God,  exclaiming,  "  liord,  thou  hast  deceived  us;  and 
we  have  been  deceived  !"*  With  respect  to  the  alleged  purity 
of  Antinomian  saints,  I  would  refer  to  the  history  of  the  lives 
and  deaths  of  many  of  our  English  refjicides,  and  to  the  gross 
immoralities  of  numberless  justified  Methodists,  described  by 
Fletcher  in  his  Checks  to  Antinomianism.'f 

I  am,  &c. 

John  Mtlner. 

a3  loe  whole  of  the  objections  may  be  gathered  from  the  answers  to  thera 
that  intention  has  been  abandoned. 

*  Se3  Birch's  Life  of  Archbishop  Tillotson,  p.  17. 

1  T hi3  candid  and  able  writer  says,  "  The  Puritans  and  first  Quakers  souu 
got  over  the  edge  of  internal  activity  into  the  smooth  and  easy  path  of  Lao. 
dicean  formality.  Most  of  us,  called  Methodists,  have  alreadj  followed 
them.  We  fall  asl»;ej,  under  the  bewitching  power;  we  dream  strange 
dreams;  our  salvation  is  finished  ;  we  have  got  above  legality;  we  have  aU 
tained  Christian  liberty;  we  have  nothing  to  do;  our  covenant  is  sure.' 
Vol.  ii.  p.  233.  He  refers  to  several  instances  of  the  most  flagi'ious  conduct 
i>f  which  human  nature  is  capable,  in  persons  who  had  attained  to  what  ihey 
eaW^nished  salvition. 


SECOND   FALLACIOUS   RULE.  4< 

LETTER  Vm.— TO  JAiMES  BROWN,  ESQ 

SECOND  FALLACIOUS  RULE 
Dear  s  j  — 

I  TAKE  it  for  granted,  that  my  answers  to  Messrs.  Rankio 
•nd  Topham  have  been  communicated  to  you,  and  I  hope  that 
in  conjunction  with  my  preceding  letters,  they  have  convinced 
those  gentlemen,  of  what  you,  dear  sir,  have  ever  been  coq- 
vmced  of,  namely,  the  inconsistency  and  fanaticism  of  ovei7 
pretension  on  the  part  of  individuals,  at  the  present  day,  to  a 
new  and  particular  inspiration,  as  a  rule  of  faith.  The  ques- 
tion  which  remains  for  our  inquiry  is,  whether  the  rule  or 
method  prescribed  by  the  Church  of  England,  and  other  more 
rational  classes  of  Protestants,  or  that  prescribed  by  the  Catho- 
lic Church,  is  the  one  designed  by  our  Saviour  Christ  for  find- 
ing out  his  true  religion  ?  You  say  that  the  whole  of  this  is 
comprised  in  the  written  word  of  God,  or  the  Bible,  and  that 
every  individual  is  a  judge  for  himself  of  the  sense  of  the  Bible. 
Hence  in  every  religious  controversy,  more  especially  since 
the  last  change  of  the  inconstant  Chillingworth,*  Catholics 
have  been  stunned  with  the  cries  of  jarring  Protestant  sects  and 
individuals,  proclaiming  that  the  Bible,  the  Bible  alone  is  their 
religion  :  and  hence,  more  particularly  at  the  present  day,  Bu 
bles  are  distributed  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  throughout  the 
empire  and  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  as  the  adeauate 
means  of  uniting  and  reforming  Christians,  and  of  converting 
infidels.  On  the  other  hand,  we  Catholics  hold  that  tnat  the 
word  of  God,  in  general,  both  written  and  unwritten,  in  other 
words,  the  Bible  and  tradition,  taken  together,  constitute  the  rule 
of  faith,  or  method  appointed  by  Christ  for  finding  out  the  true 
religion  ;  and,  that,  besides  the  rule  itself,  he  has  provided  in  his 
holy  church,  a  living,  speaking  judge,  to  watch  over  it  and  explain 
it  in  all  matters  of  controversy.  That  the  latter,  and  not  the 
former,  is  the  true  rule,  I  trust  I  shall  be  able  to  prove,  as  clearly 
as  I  have  proved  that  private  inspiration  does  not  constitute  it : 
and  this  1  shall  prove  by  means  of  the  two  maxims  I  have  on 
that  occasion  made  use  of;  namely,  the  rule  of  faith  appcmted 
by  Christ  must  be  CERTAIN  and  UNERRING  ;  that  is  to  say, 
li  must  be  one  which  is  not  liable  to  lead  any  rational  and  sincere 
inquirer  into  inconsistency  or  error  ;  Secondly,  this  rule  must  be 
UNIVERSAL ;  that  is  to  say,  it  must  be  proportioned  to  ihf. 
aliUties  and  circumstances  of  the  great  bulk  of  mankind. 

*  Chillingworth  was  first  a  Protestant,  of  the  establishment :  he  next  be- 
came  a  Catholic,  and  studied  in  one  of  our  seminaries.  He  then  returned, 
in  part,  to  his  former  creed  ;  and  last  of  all  he  gave  in  to  Socinianism,  which 
Bia  writings  greatly  promoted. 

4* 


42  LETTER    VIII. 

I.  If  Christ  had  intended  that  all  mankini  should  learn  hii 
religion  from  a  hook,  namely,  the  New  Teslameni,  he  liimself 
would  havf>  written  that  book,  and  would  have  enjoined  the  ob- 
ligation  of  learning  to  read  it,  as  the  first  and  fundamental  prj- 
cept  of  his  religion  ;  whereas,  he  never  wrote  any  tnmg  at  all, 
unless  perhaps  the  «ins  of  the  Pharisees  with  his  finger  upon 
the  dust,  John,  viii.  6.*  It  does  not  even  appear  that  he  gavd 
Iiis  apostles  any  command  to  write  the  Gospel  :  though  he  re- 
peatedly and  emphatically  commanded  them  to  preach  it,  (Matt. 
X.)  and  this  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  Matt,  xxviii.  19, 
In  this  ministry  they  all  of  them  spent  their  lives,  preaching  the 
religion  of  Christ  in  every  country,  from  Judea  to  Spain  in  one 
direction,  and  to  India  in  another ;  everywhere  establishing 
churches,  and  "  commending  their  doctrine  to  faithful  men  who 
should  be  fit  to  teach  others  also."  2  Tim.  ii.  2.  Only  a  part 
of  them  wrote  any  thing,  and  what  these  did  write,  was,  for  the 
most  part,  addressed  to  particular  persons  or  congregations,  and 
on  particular  occasions.  The  ancient  fathers  tell  us  that  St. 
Matthew  wrote  his  gospel  at  the  particular  request  of  the  Chris- 
lians  of  Palestine, f  and  that  St.  Mark  composed  his  at  the  de- 
sire  of  those  at  Rome. J  St.  Luke  addressed  his  gospel  to  an 
individual,  Theophilus,  having  written  it,  says  the  holy  evange- 
list, because  it  seemed  good  to  hi?n  to  do  so.  Luke  i.  3.  St.  John 
wrote  the  last  of  the  gospels  in  compliance  with  the  petition  of 
the  clergy  and  people  of  Lesser  Asia,§  to  prove,  in  particular, 
the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  Cerinthus,  Ebion,  and  other 
heretics  began  then  to  deny.  No  doubt  the  evangelists  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  listen  to  the  requests  of  the  faith- 
ful, in  writing  their  respective  gospels ;  nevertheless  there  is 
nothing  in  these  occasions,  nor  in  the  gospels  themselves,  which 
Indicates  that  any  one  of  them,  or  all  of  them  together,  con- 
tains an  entire,  detailed,  and  clear  exposition  of  the  whole  reli- 
gion of  Jes-ds  Christ.  The  canonical  epistles  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament show  the  particular  occasions  on  which  they  were  writ- 
ten, and  prove,  as  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  observes,  that  "  They 
are  not  to  be  considered  as  regular  treatises  on  the  Christian 
religion. "II 

II.  In  supposing  our  Saviour  lo  have  appointed  his  bare 
wri  ten  word  for  the  rule  of  our  faith,  without  any  authorized 
jud^TG  to  decide  on  the  unavoidable  controversies  growing  out 

•  It  is  agreed  upon  among  the  learned,  that  the  supposed  letter  of  Christ 
to  Abgarus,  king  of  Edessa-  quoted  by  Eusebius,  Hist.  Eccl.  1.  i.  is  spurious. 

t  Euscb.  I.  3.  Hist.  EccL  Chrysos.  in  Malt.  Horn.  1.  Iren.  I.  3.  c.  1 
Hieron.  de  Vir.  lilust. 

t  Euseb.  1.  2.  c.  15.  Hist.  Eccl.  Epiph.     Hieron.  de  Vir.  Illust. 

i  Euseb.  1.  6.  Hist.  Eccl.  Hieron.         (]  Elem.  of  Christ.  Rel.  vol.  i.  p.  277 


SECOND    FALLACIOUS    RULE.  4S 

i>f  it.  you  would  suppose  that  he  nas  acted  differently  from  what 
common  sense  has  dictated  to  all  other  legislators :  for  where 
do  we  read  of  a  legislator,  who,  after  dictating  a  code  of  laws, 
neglected  to  appoint  judges  and  magistrates  to  decide  on  their 
meaning,  and  to  enforce  obedience  to  such  decisions  ?  You, 
dear  sir,  have  the  means  of  knowing  what  would  be  the  conse- 
quence of  lea  /ing  any  act  of  Parliament,  concerning  taxes,  or 
enclosures,  or  any  other  temporal  concerns,  to  the  interpretation 
of  the  individuals  whom  it  regards.  Alluding  to  the  Protestant 
rule,  the  illustrious  Fenelon  has  said,  "  It  is  bettter  to  live 
without  any  law,  than  to  have  laws  which  all  men  are  left  to 
interpret  according  to  their  several  opinions  and  interests."* 
The  Bishop  of  Londonf  appears  sensible  of  this  truth,  as  far  as 
regards  temporal  affairs,  where  he  writes,  "  In  matters  of  pro- 
perty,  indeed,  some  decision,  right  or  wrong,  must  be  made ; 
society  could  not  subsist  without  it;"t  just  as  if  peace  and 
unity  were  less  necessary  in  the  one  sheepfold  of  the  one  shep- 
herd, the  Church  of  Christ,  than  they  are  in  civil  society ! 

III.  The  fact  is,  this  method  of  determining  religious  ques- 
tions by  Scripture  only,  according  to  each  individual's  inter- 
pretation,  has  always  produced,  whenever  and  wherever  it  has 
been  adopted,  endless  and  incurable  dissensions,  and  of  course 
errors;  because  truth  is  one,  while  errors  are  numberless. 
The  ancient  fathers  of  the  church  reproached  the  sects  of  here- 
tics and  schismatics  with  their  endless  internal  divisions. 
**See,"  says  St.  Augustin,  "into  how  many  morsels  those  are 
divided,  who  have  divided  themselves  from  the  unity  of  the 
church  !"§  Another  father  writes,  "  It  is  natural  for  error  to 
be  ever  changing.  ||  The  disciples  have  the  same  right  in  this 
matter  that  their  masters  had." 

To  speak  now  of  the  Protestant  reformers.  No  sooner  had 
.heir  progenitor,  Martin  Luther,  set  up  the  tribunal  of  private 
judgment  on  the  sense  of  Scripture  in  opposition  to  the  author- 
ity of  the  church,  ancient  and  modern, IT  than  his  disciples, 
proceeding  on  this  principle,  undertook  to  prove  from  plain 
cexts  of  the  Bible,  that  his  own  doctrine  was  error  ecus,  and 
that  the   Reformation  itself  wanted  reforming.     Cailostad,** 

*  Life  of  Archbishop  Fenelon,  by  Ramsay 

t  Dr.  Porteus 

X  Brief  Confut.  p.  18. 

§  St.  Aug. 

II  Tertul.  de  Prsescript. 

i"  This  happened  in  June,  1520,  on  his  doctrine  being  censured  by  the 
popo.     Till  that  time  he  had  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  holy  aee 

**  He  was  Luther's  first  disciple  of  distinction,  being  Archdeacon  of  Wit. 
temberg.     He  declared  against  Luther  in  1521. 


44  LETTER    Vm. 

Zuinglius,*  CEcolompadiusf,  Muncer4  and  a  bundled  more  o! 
his  followers,  wrote  and  preached  against  him  and  against  each 
other,  with  the  utmost  virulence,  whilst  each  of  them  still  pro- 
fessed to  ground  his  doctrine  and  conduct  on  the  written  icord 
of  God  alone.  In  vain  did  Luther  claim  a  superiority  over 
them ;  in  vain  did  he  denounce  hell-fire  against  them  ;§  in  vain 
did  he  threaten  to  return  back  to  the  Catholic  religion  ;||  he 
had  put  the  BiWe  into  each  man's  hand  to  explain  it  for  himself 
tnd  this  his  followers  continued  to  do  in  open  defiance  of  him  ;ir 
iill  their  mutual  contradictions  and  discords  became  so  numer- 
ous  and  scandalous,  as  to  overwhelm  the  thinking  part  of  them 
with  grief  and  confusion.** 

*  Zuinglius  began  the  Reformation  in  Switzerland  some  time  after  Luthei 
began  it  in  Germany,  but  taught  such  doctrine  that  the  latter  termed  him  a 
pagan,  and  said,  he  despaired  of  his  salvation. 

t  (Ecolompadius  was  a  Brigittine  friar  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Lawrence, 
near  Augsburgh;  but  soon  quitted  the  cloister,  married,  and  adopted  the 
Bf  ntiments  of  Zuinglius  respecting  the  real  presence,  in  preference  to  those 
c  f  Luther.  His  death  was  sudden,  and  by  Luther  it  is  asserted  that  he  was 
f  trangled  by  the  devil. 

X  Muncer  was  the  disciple  of  Luther,  and  founder  of  the  Anabaptists, 
who,  in  quality  of  The  Just,  maintained  that  the  property  of  The  Wicked  be- 
longed  to  them,  quoting  the  second  beatitude,  '*  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for 
they  shall  possess  the  land."  Muncer  wrote  to  the  several  princes  of  Ger- 
many, requiring  them  to  give  up  their  possessions  to  him.  He  soon  after 
marched  at  the  head  of  40,000  of  his  followers  to  enforce  this  requisition. 

§  He  said  to  them,  "  I  can  defend  you  against  the  pope, — but  when  the 
devil  shall  urge  against  you  (the  authors  of  these  changes)  at  your  death, 
this  passage  of  Scripture,  the7j  ran  and  I  did  not  send  thetn,  how  shall  you 
withstand  him?  He  will  plunge  you  headlong  intc  hell." — Oper.  tom.  vii. 
fol.  274. 

II  "  If  you  continue  in  these  measures  of  your  common  deliberations,  1 
will  recant  whatever  I  have  written  or  said,  and  leave  you.  Mind  what  I 
Bay."     Oper.  tom.  vii.  fol.  276.  edit.  Wittemb. 

IT  See  the  curious  challenge  of  Luther  to  Carlostad  to  write  a  book 
against  the  real  presence,  when  one  wishes  the  other  to  break  his  neck,  and 
the  latter  retorts,  may  I  see  thee  broken  on  the  tvheel. — Vaiiat,  b.  n.  n.  12. 

**  Capito,  minister  of  Strasburgh,  writing  to  Farel,  pastor  of  Geneva,  thus 
complains  to  him  :  "  God  has  given  me  to  understand  the  mischief  we  have 
done  by  our  precipitancy  in  breaking  with  the  pope,  «fec.  The  people  eay  to 
us,  I  know  enough  of  the  Gospel.  I  can  read  it  for  myself.  I  have  no  need 
of  you,"  "^T^ter  Epist.  Calvini. — In  the  same  tone  Dudith  writes  tc  his  friend 
Beza :  "  Our  people  are  carried  away  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  if  you 
know  what  their  religion  is  to-day,  you  cannot  lell  what  it  will  be  to-nor- 
row.  In  what  single  point  are  those  churches  which  have  declared  war 
■gainst  the  pope  agreed  amongst  themselves  ?  There  is  not  one  point 
which  is  not  held  by  some  of  them  as  an  article  of  faith,  and  by  others  as  an 
impiety."  In  the  same  sentiment,  Calvin,  writing  to  Melancthon,  says,  "It 
is  of  great  importance  that  the  divisions,  which  subsist  among  us,  should  not 
be  known  to  future  ages  :  for  nothing  can  be  more  ridiculous  than  tljit  we, 
\*ho  have  broken  off  from  the  whole  world,  should  have  agreed  so  ill«raoji^ 
saraeU'^  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  Reformation  ' 


oECOND    FALLACIOUS    RULE.  45 

To  point  out  some  few  of  the  particular  variations  alluded 

to ;  for  to  enumerate  them  all  would  require  a  work  vastly 
more  voluminous  than  that  of  Bossuet  on  this  subject :  it  is 
well  known  that  huiher^s  fundamental  principle  was  that  o^  im- 
puted justice,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  acts  of  virtue  and  good 
works  performed  by  ourselves.  His  favorite  disciple  and  lottle 
companion,  Amsdorf,  carried  this  principle  so  far  as  to  main- 
tain, that  good  works  are  a  Jiindrance  to  salvation.*  In  vindica- 
tion of  his  fundamental  tenet.  Luther  vaunts  as  follows  :  "  This 
article  shall  remain  in  snite  of  all  the  world  :  it  is  I,  Martin 
Luther,  evangelist,  who  say  it ;  let  no  one  therefore  attempt  to 
infringe  it,  neither  the  Emperor  of  the  Romans,  nor  of  the 
Turks,  nor  of  the  Tartars ;  neither  the  pope,  nor  the  monks 
nor  the  nuns,  nor  the  kings,  nor  the  princes,  nor  all  the  devils 
in  hell.  If  ';hey  attempt  it,  may  the  infernal  flames  be  their 
recompense.  What  I  say  here  is  to  be  taken  for  an  inspiration 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. "f  Notwithstanding,  however,  these  terri- 
ble threats  and  imprecations  of  their  master,  Melancthon.  with 
the  rest  of  the  Lutherans,  abandoned  this  article,  immediately 
after  his  death,  and  went  over  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  Semi- 
pelagianism ;  not  only  admitting  the  necessity  of  good  works, 
Dut  also  teaching  that  these  are  prior  to  God's  grace.  Still  on 
this  single  subject  Osiander,  a  Lutheran,  says,  "  there  are 
twenty  several  opinions  all  drawn  fro7ii  the  Scripture,  and  held  by 
different  members  of  the  Augsburgh  or  Lutheran  confession. "J 
Nor  has  the  unbounded  license  of  explaining  Scripture,  each 
one  in  his  own  way,  which  Protestants  claim,  been  confined  to 
mere  errors  and  dissensions  :  it  has  also  caused  mutual  perse- 
cution and  bloodshed  :§  it  has  produced  tumults,  rebellion  s,  and 
anarchy  beyond  recounting.  Dr.  Hey  asserts,  that  ''  'Vtie  mis- 
interpretation of  Scripture  brought  on  the  miseries  of  the  Civil 
War  ;"||  and  Lord  Clarendon, ll  Madox,**  and  other  writers 
show,  that  there  was  not  a  crime  committed  by  the  Puritan 
i'>3bels,  in  the  course  of  it,  which  they  did  not  profess  to  justify 
by  texts  and  instances  drawn  from  the  sacred  volumes.  Le- 
.'and,  Bergier,  Barruel,  Robison,  and  Kett,  abundantly  prove 
that  the  poisonous  plant  of  infidelity,  which  has  pioduced  such 
dreadful  effects  of  late  years  on  the  Continent,  was  transplanted 
ihither  from  this  Protestant  island,  and  that  it  was  produced, 

*  Mosheim's  Hist,  by  Maclaine,  vol.  iv.  p.  328,  ed.  1790. 

t  Visit.  Saxon.  +  Archdeacon  Blackburn's  Confessional,  p   16. 

§  See  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  chapter  "  Persecution."  Numberless  other 
aroofs  of  Protestants  persecuting,  not  only  Catholics,  but  also  ihoir  fellow 
Protestants  to  death,  on  account  of  their  religious  opinions,  can  be  adduced 

ii  Dr.  Hey's  Theological  Lectures,  vol.  i.  p.  77.  V  Hist,  of  Civ.  Waj 

**  Exanain.  o*"  Neal's  Hist,  of  Puniarw. 


46  LETTER    VIII. 

nourished,  and  increased  to  its  enormous  growth,  by  that  prin 
ciple  of  private  judgment  in  matters  of  religion,  which  is  the 
very  foundation  of  the  Reformation.  Let  us  hear  the  two  last- 
mentioned  authors,  both  of  them  Protestant  clergymen,  on  this 
important  subject.  "  The  spirit  of  free  inquiry,"  says  Kett, 
quoting  Robison,  "  was  the  great  boast  of  the  Protestants,  and 
their  only  support  against  the  Catholics  ;  securing  them,  both 
rr  iheir  civil  and  religious  rights.  It  was  therefore  encouraged 
b;'  their  governments,  and  sometimes  indulged  to  excess.  In 
the  progress  of  this  contest,  their  own  confessions  did  not  escape 
censure ;  and  it  was  asserted,  that  the  Reformation,  which 
'.bese  confessions  express,  was  not  complete.  Further  reforma- 
tion was  proposed.  The  Scriptures,  the  foundation  of  their 
faith,  were  examined  by  clergymen  of  very  different  capacities, 
dispositions,  and  views,  till,  by  explaining,  correcting,  allego- 
rizing, and  otherwise  twisting  the  Bible,  men's  mind.s  had  hardly 
any  thing  to  rest  on,  as  a  doctrine  of  revealed  relip-ion.  This 
encouraged  others  to  go  further,  and  to  say  that  re\  elation  was 
a  solecism,  as  plainly  appears  by  the  irreconcilable  differences 
among  the  enlightenersof  the  public,  so  they  were  called  ;  and 
that  man  had  nothing  to  trust  to,  but  the  dictates  of  natural 
reason.  Another  set  of  writers,  proceeding  from  this  as  from 
a  point  settled,  proscribed  all  religion  whatever,  and  openly 
taught  the  doctrines  of  materialism  and  atheism.  Most  of  these 
innovations  luere  the  work  of  Protestant  divines,  from  the  causes 
that  I  have  mentioned.  But  the  progress  of  infidelity  was  mucl> 
accelerated  by  the  establishment  of  a  phi/anlhropine,  or  academy 
of  general  education,  in  the  principality  of  Anhalt-Dessau. 
The  professed  object  of  this  institution  was,  to  unite  the  three 
Christian  communions  of  Germany,  and  to  make  it  possible  for 
the  members  of  them  all  not  only  to  live  amicably,  and  to  wor- 
ship  God  in  the  same  church,  but  even  to  communicate  toge 
ther.  This  attempt  gave  rise  to  much  speculation  and  refine- 
ment ;  and  the  proposal  for  the  amendment  of  the  formulas, 
and  the  instructions  from  the  pulpit  were  prosecuted  with  sD 
much  keenness,  that  the  ground- work  of  Christianity  was  refi- 
ned and  refined  till  it  vanished  altogether,  leaving  deism,  oi 
natural,  or,  as  it  was  called,  philosophical  relig^ion  in  its  place. 
The  Lutherans  and  Calvinists,  prepared  by  the  causes  before- 
mentioned  to  become  dupes  to  this  masterpiece  of  art,  were  en- 
ticod  by  the  specious  liberality  of  the  scheme,  and  the  particu- 
lai  attention  which  it  promised  to  the  morals  of  youth:  but  "nor 
me  Rojnan  CathoUc  could  Basedow  allure  to  his  seminnry  of 
■practical  ethics."* 

*  Robison's  Proofs  of  a  Conspiracy  against  all  Religions,  &c,      Rett's 
History,  tb  5  Interpreter  of  Prophecy,  vol.  ii.  p.  158. 


SECOND    FALLACIOUS    RULE.  47 

IV.  You  have  seen,  dear  sir,  to  what  endless  eriors  ani  im- 

fneties  the  principle  of  private  interpretation  of  Scri-pture,  no 
ess  than  that  of  private  inspiration  of  faith,  has  conducted  men, 
and  of  course  is  ever  liable  to  conduct  them.  This  circum- 
stance, therefore,  proves,  according  to  the  self-evident  maxim 
stated  above,  that  it  cannot  be  the  rule  which  is  to  bring  us  to 
religious  truths.  Nor  is  it  to  be  imagined  that,  previously  to 
the  formation  of  the  different  national  churches  and  other  reli- 
gious associations,  which  took  place  in  the  several  parts  of  Eu- 
rope, at  what  is  called  "  The  Reformation,"  the  Scriptures 
were  diligently  consulted  by  the  founders  of  the  new  sects ;  or 
that  the  ancient  system  of  religion  was  exploded,  or  the  new 
systems  adopted,  in  conformity  with  the  apparent  sense  of  the 
sacred  text,  as  Protestant  controvertists  would  have  you  be- 
lieve. No,  sir,  princes  and  statesmen  nad  a  great  deal  more 
to  do  with  these  changes  than  theologians  :  and  most  of  the  par- 
ties concerned  in  them  were  evidently  pushed  on  by  motives 
vi^ry  different  from  those  of  religion.  As  to  Martin  Luther,  he 
testifies,  and  calls  God  to  witness  the  truth  of  his  testimony, 
that  it  was  not  ivillingly,  (that  is,  not  from  a  previous  discovery 
of  the  falsehood  of  his  religion,)  but  from  accident,  (namely,  a 
quarrel  with  the  Dominican  friars,  and  afterwards  with  the 
pope,)  that  he  fell  into  his  broils  about  religion.*  With  respect 
to  the  Reformation  in  our  own  country,  we  all  know  that  Henry 
VIII.,  who  took  the  first  step  towards  it,  was,  at  the  beginning 
of  his  reign,  so  zealous  against  it,  that  he  wrote  a  book,  which 
he  dedicated  to  Pope  Leo  X.,  in  opposition  to  it,  and  in  return 
obtained  from  this  pontiff,  for  himself  and  successors,  the  title 
of  Defender  of  the  Faith.  Becoming  afterwards  enamored 
of  Ann  Boleyn,  one  of  the  maids  of  honor  to  the  queen,  and 

t  "  Casu  non  voluntate  in  has  turmas  incidi :  Deum  tester." — The  Pro- 
testant historian,  Mosheim,  with  whom  Hume  agrees,  admits  "  that  several 
of  ths  principal  agen*^  in  this  revolution  were  actuated  more  by  the  im. 
pulse  of  passion,  and  views  of  interest,  than  by  a  zeal  for  true  religion.'* 
Maclaine,  vol.  iv.  p.  135.  He  had  before  acknowledged  that  King  Guela- 
vus  introduced  Lutheranism  into  Sweden,  in  opposition  to  the  clergy  and 
bishops,  "not  only  as  agreeable  to  the  genius  and  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  but 
ilso  as  favorable  to  the  temporal  state  and  political  constitution  of  the  Swe- 
dish dominions,"  pp.  79,  80.  He  adds,  that  Christiern,  who  introduced  tbe 
Reformation  into  Denmark,  was  animated  by  no  other  motives  than  those  of 
ambition  and  avarice,  p.  82.  Grotius,  another  Protestant,  testifies  tha*.  it 
was  "  sedition  and  violence  which  gave  birth  to  the  Reformation  in  his  own 
country" — Holland.  Append,  de  Antichristo.  The  same  was  the  caee  in 
France,  Geneva,  and  Scotland.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  in  all  these  couti- 
tries,  the  reformers,  as  soon  as  they  got  the  upper  hand,  became  violent  per- 
secutors of  the  CathoUcs.  Bergier  defies  Protestants  to  name  so  much  as  a 
town  or  village  in  which,  when  they  became  masters  of  it,  they  tolerated  a 
iinifie  Catholic. 


48  LETTER    VIII. 

the  reigning  pope  having  refused  to  sanction  an  adulterous  mar. 
riage  with  her,  he  caused  a  statute  to  be  passed,  abrogating  the 
pope's  supremacy,  and  declaring  himself  supreme  head  of  the 
Church  of  England.^  Thus  he  plunged  the  nation  into  schism, 
and  opened  a  way  for  every  kind  of  heresy  and  impiety.  In 
short,  nothing  is  more  evident  than  that  the  king's  inordinate 
passion,  and  not  the  word  of  God,  was  the  rule  followed  in  this 
hrst  important  change  of  our  national  religion ,  The  unprinci- 
pled Duke  of  Somerset,  who  next  succeeded  to  supreme  power 
in  the  churcli  and  state,  under  the  shadow  of  his  youthful  ne- 
phew, Edward  VI.,  pushed  on  the  Reformation,  so  called,  much 
further  than  it  had  yet  been  carried,  with  a  view  to  the  gratifi- 
cation of  his  own  ambitious  and  avaricious  purposes.  He  sup- 
pressed  the  remaining  colleges  and  hospitals,  which  the  profli- 
gacy of  Henry  had  spared,  converting  their  revenues  to  his  own 
use  and  to  that  of  his  associates.  He  forced  Cranmer  and  the 
other  bishops  to  take  out  fresh  commissions  for  governing  their 
dioceses  during  his  nephew's,  that  is  to  say,  his  own  good  plea- 
sure.'f  He  made  a  great  number  of  important  changes  m  the 
public  worship,  by  his  own  authority  or  that  of  his  visiters ;  J 
and  when  he  employed  certain  bishops  and  divines  in  forming 
fresh  articles  and  a  new  liturgy,  he  punished  them  with  im- 
prisonment if  they  were  not  on  all  points  obsequious  to  his  or- 
ders.§  He  even  took  upon  himself  to  alter  their  work,  wher 
sanctioned  by  Parliament,  in  compliment  to  the  church's  great- 
est enemy,  Calvin. ||     Afterwards,  when  Elizabeth  came  to  the 

*  Archbishop  Parker  records,  thai  the  bishops,  assembled  in  synod  in 
1531,  offered  to  sign  this  new  title,  with  the  following  salvo  :  "  In  quantum 
per  Christi  leges  licet:"  but  that  the  king  would  admit  of  no  such  modifica. 
tion.  Antiq.  Brit.  p.  325.  In  the  end,  they  surrendered  the  whole  of  their 
spiritual  jurisdiction  to  him,  (all  except  the  religious  Bishop  of  Rochester, 
Fisher,  who  was  put  to  death  for  his  refusal,)  and  were  content  to  publish 
Articles  of  Religion  devised  by  the  King's  Highness.  Heylin's  Hist,  of 
Reform.     CoUier,  &c. 

t  "  Licentiam  concedimus  ad  nostrum  beneplacilum  dumtaxat  duraturam." 
Burnet  Hist.  Ref.  P.  II.  B.  i.  N.  2. 

t  See  the  Injunctions  of  the  Council  to  Preachers,  published  before  the 
Paihament  met,  concerning  the  mass  in  the  Latin  hnguage,  prayers  for  the 
dead,  &c.  See  also  the  order  sent  to  the  primate  against  psalms,  ashes,  &c., 
in  Heylin,  Burnet,  and  Collier.  The  boy  Edward  VI.,  just  thirteen  years 
old  was  taught  by  his  uncle  to  proclaim  as  follows  :  "  We  would  not  havo 
our  subjects  so  much  to  mistake  our  judgment,  &c.,  as  though  we  could 
not  discern  what  is  to  be  done,  &c.  God  bo  praised,  we  know  what,  by  his 
word,  is  fit  to  be  redressed,"  &e.     Collier,  vol.  ii.  p.  246. 

§  The  Bishops  Heath  and  Gardiner  were  both  imprisoned  for  non-com. 
pliance. 

II  Heylin  complains  bitterly  of  Calvin's  pragmatical  spirit,  in  quan-elling 
with  the  English  hturgy,  and  soliciting  tlie  protector  to  alter  it.  Preface  to 
Hist,  of  Reform.  His  letters  to  Somerset  on  the  subject  may  be  seen  ii 
Pox^s  Ads  and  Munwn^ 


SECOND    FALLACIOUS    RULE.  40 

throne,  a  new  reformation,  different  in  its  articles  and  liturgy 
from  that  of  Edward  VI.,  was  set  on  foot,  and  moulded,  not  ac- 
cording to  Scripture,  but  to  her  orders.  She  deposed  all  the 
bishops  except  one,  '■^the  calamity  of  Ids  see,"  as  he  was  called;* 
and  required  the  new  ones,  whom  she  appointed,  to  renounce 
certain  exercises,  which  they  declared  to  be  agreeable  to  the 
Word  of  God,-\  but  which  she  found  not  to  agree  with  her  sys- 
tem of  politics.  She  even  in  full  parliament  threatened  to  de- 
pose them  all,  if  they  did  not  act  conformably  to  her  views.:}: 

V.  The  more  strictly  the  subject  is  examined,  the  more 
clearly  it  will  appear,  that  it  was  not  in  consequence  of 
any  investigation  of  the  Scriptures,  either  public  or  private, 
that  the  ancient  Catholic  religion  was  abolished,  and  one 
or  other  of  the  new  Protestant  religions  set  up  in  the  different 
northern  kingdoms  and  states  of  Europe,  but  in  consequence 
of  the  politics  of  princes  and  statesmen,  the  avarice  of  the  no- 
bility and  gentry,  and  the  irreligion  and  licentiousness  of  the 
people.  I  will  even  advance  a  step  further,  and  affirm  that 
there  is  no  appearanceof  any  individual  Protestant,  to  whatever 
sect  he  belongs,  having  formed  his  creed  by  the  rule  of  Scrip- 
tute  alone.  For  do  you,  sir,  really  believe  that  those  persons  of 
your  communion,  whom  you  see  the  most  diligent  and  devout 
in  turning  over  their  Bibles,  have  really  found  out  in  them 
the  thirty-nine  articles,  or  any  other  creed  which  they  happen 
to  profess  ?  To  judge  more  certainly  of  this  matter,  I  wish 
those  gentlemen  who  are  the  most  zealous  and  active  in  dis- 
tributing Bibles  among  the  Indians  and  Africans  in  their  differ- 
ent countries,  would  procure,  fiom  some  half  dozen  of  the 
most  intelligent  and  serious  of  their  proselytes,  who  have  heard 
nothing  of  the  Christian  faith  by  any  other  means  than  their 
Bibles,  a  summary  of  what  they  respectively  understand  to  be 
the  doctrine  and  the  morality  taught  in  that  sacred  volume. 
What  inconsistent  and  nonsensical  symbols  should  we  not  wit- 
ness !  The  truth  is,  Protestants  are  tutored  from  their  infancy, 
by  the  help  of  catechisms  and  creeds,  in  the  systems  of  their  re- 
gpective  sects ;  they  are  guided  by  their  parents  and  masters, 
and  are  influenced  by  the  opinions  and  example  of  those  with 
whom  they  live  and  converse.  Some  particular  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture are  strongly  impressed  upon  their  minds,  and  others  of  an 

•  Anthony  Kitchen,  so  called  by  Godwin,  de  Praesul,  and  Camden. 

t  This  took  place  with  respect  to  what  was  termed  prophesying,  then 
practised  by  many  Protestants,  and  defended  by  Archbishop  Grindal  and  tho 
otiier  bishops,  as  agreeable  to  GotVs  word :  nevertheless,  ihe  queen  otiiged 
them  to  suppress  it.     Col.  Eccl.  Hist.  P.  II.  p.  554,  &c. 

X  See  her  curious  speech  in  Parliament,  March  25,  1585,  in  Stow's  An 
nals 

5 


50  LETTER    VIII. 

apparently  different  meaning  are  kept  out  of  their  ^iew,  oi 
glossed  over ;  and  above  all,  it  is  constantly  inculcates  to  them, 
that  their  religion  is  built  upon  Scripture  alone.  Hence,  when 
they  actually  read  the  Scriptures,  they  fancy  they  see  there, 
what  they  have  been  otherwise  taught  to  believe  ;  tlie  Lutheran^ 
for  example,  that  Christ  is  really  present  in  the  sacrament;  the 
Oalvinist,  that  he  is  as  far  distant  from  it  as  heaven  is  from 
tftarth  ;  the  Churchman,  that  baptism  is  necessary  for  infants  ; 
the  Baptist,  that  it  is  an  impiety  to  confer  it  upon  them ; 
and  so  of  all  the  other  forty  sects  of  Protestants  enumerated 
by  Evana  in  his  Sketch  of  the  Different  DeMominations  of 
Christians^  and  of  twice  forty  other  sects  whom  he  omits  to 
mention. 

When  I  remarked  that  our  blessed  Master,  Jesus  Christ, 
wrote  no  part  of  the  New  Testament  himself,  and  gave  no  or- 
ders to  his  apostles  to  write  it,  I  ought  to  have  added,  that  if  he 
had  intended  it  to  be,  together  with  the  Old  Testament,  the 
sole  rule  of  religion,  he  would  have  provided  means  for  their 
being  able  to  follow  it ;  knowing,  as  he  certainly  did,  that  99 
in  every  100,  or  rather  999  in  every  1000,  in  different  ages  and 
countries,  would  not  be  able  to  read  at  all,  and  much  less  to 
comprehend  a  page  of  the  sacred  writings.  Yet  no  such 
means  were  provided  by  him  ;  nor  has  he  so  much  as  enjoined 
It  on  his  followers  in  general  to  study  letters. 

Another  observation  on  this  subject,  and  a  very  obvious  one 
is  ;  that  among  those  Christians  who  profess  that  the  Bible 
alone  is  the  rule  of  their  religion,  there  ought  to  be  no  articles, 
no  catechisms,  no  sermons,  nor  other  instructions.  True  it  is, 
that  the  abolition  of  these,  however  mcompatible  they  are  with 
the  rule  itself,  would  quickly  undermine  the  Established 
Church,  as  its  clergy  now  begin  to  understand  ;  and,  if  univer- 
sally carried  into  effect,  would,  in  the  end,  efface  the  whole 
doctrine  and  morality  of  the  Gospel  ;*  but  this  consequence 
(which  is  inevitable)  only  shows  more  clearly  the  falsehood  of 
this  exclusive  rule.  Jn  fact,  the  most  enlightened  Protestants 
find  themselves  here  in  a  dilemma,  and  are  obliged  to  say  and 
unsay,  to  the  amusement  of  some  persons,  and  the  pity  ol 
others.^     They  cannot  abandon  the  rule  of  the  Bible  alone,  as 

♦  The  Protestant  writers,  Kett  and  Robison,  have  shown,  in  the  pnssage 
above  quoted,  that  the  principle  of  private  judgment  tends  to  undermuio 
Christianity  at  large  ;  and  Archdeacon  Hook,  in  his  late  charge,  shovi's  by 
an  exact  statement  of  capital  convictions  in  different  years,  that  the  increase 
of  immorahty  has  kept  pace  with  that  of  the  Bible  societies. 

t  One  of  the  latest  instances  of  the  distress  in  question,  is  exhibited  by 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Marsh.  In  his  publication,  The  Inquiry^  p.  4,  ho  says  very 
truly,  "  the  poor  (who  coneiiiute  the  bulk  of  mankind)  cannot,  without  sit 


SECOND   FALLACIOUS    RULE.  51 

explained  by  each  one  for  himself,  without  proclaiming  tbfiir 
guilt  in  refusing  to  hear  the  church,  and  they  cannot  adhere  to 
it,  without  opening  the  floodgates  to  all  the  impiety  and  immo- 
rality of  the  present  age  upon  their  own  communion.  I  shall 
have  occasion  hereafter  to  notice  the  claims  of  the  Established 
Church  to  authority,  in  determining  the  sense  of  Scriptuie,  as 
well  as  in  other  religious  controversies :  in  the  mean  time  I 
•cannot  but  observe,  that  her  most  able  defenders  are  frequenily 
obliged  to  abandon  their  own,  and  adopt  the  Catholic  ruie  of 
faith.  The  judicious  Hooker,  in  his  defence  of  the  Church  of 
England,  writes  thus  :  "  Of  this  we  are  right  sure,  that  nature, 
Scripture,  and  experience  itself,  have  taught  the  world  to  seek 
for  the  ending  of  contentions  by  submitting  to  some  judicial  and 
definite  sentence,  whereunto  neither  parties  that  contendeth, 
may,  under  any  pretence  or  color,  refuse  to  stand.  This  must 
needs  be  effectual  and  strong.  As  for  other  means,  without 
this,  they  seldom  prevail."*  Another  most  clear-headed  writer, 
and  j'enowned  defender  of  the  establishment,  whom  I  had  the 
happiness  of  being  acquainted  with.  Dr.  Balguy,-|-  thus  ex- 
presses himself  in  a  Charge  to  the  Clergy  of  his  archdeaconry : 
"  The  opinions  of  the  people  are  and  must  be  founded  more  on 
authority  than  reason.  Their  parents,  their  teachers,  their 
governors,  in  a  great  measure,  determine  for  them,  what  thej 
are  to  believe  and  what  to  practise.  The  same  doctrines,  uni- 
formly taught,  the  same  rites  constantly  performed,  make  such 
an  impression  on  their  minds,  that  they  hesitate  as  little  in  ad- 
mitting the  articles  of  their  faith,  as  in  receiving  the  most 
established  maxims  of  common  life.":]:  With  such  testimo- 
nies before  your  eyes,  can  you,  dear  sir,  imagine  that  the  bulk 
of  Protestants  nave  formed,  or  were  designed  to  form  their  reli- 
gion by  the  standard  of  Scripture  ?  He  goes  on  to  say,  speak- 
ing of  controverted  points  :  "Would  you  have  them  (the  people) 
think  for  themselves  ?     Would  you  have  them  hear  and  decide 

sistance,  understand  the  Scriptures."  Being  congratulated  on  this  important 
yet  unavoidable  concession,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gandolphy,  he  tacks  about  in  a 
public  letter  to  that  gentleman,  and  says,  that  what  he  wrote  in  his  Inquiry 
concerning  the  necessity  of  a  further  rule  than  mere  Scripture,  only  regarda 
the  estahlishment  of  religion,  not  the  truth  of  it ;  just  as  if  that  rule  wer« 
•uflicient  to  conduct  the  people  to  the  truth  of  religion,  while  he  expressly 
lays  they  cannot  understand  it! 

*  Hooker's  Eccles.  Polity,  Pref.  art.  6. 

T  Discourses  on  various  subjects,  by  T.  Balguy,  D.D.,  Archdeacon  and 
Prebendary  of  Winchester.  Some  of  these  discourses  were  preached  at  the 
consecration  of  bishops,  and  published  by  order  of  the  archbishop  ;  some  in 
charges  to  the  clergy.  The  whole  of  them  is  dedicated  to  the  king,  whora 
the  writer  thanks  for  naming  him  to  a  high  dignity,  (the  bishopric  of  Giou. 
«e«ter,)  and  for  permitting  him  to  decline  accepting  of  it. 

t  Discairses  on  various  subjects,  by  T.  Balguy,  D.D.  p  367. 


52  LETTER    IX. 

the  controversies  )f  the  learned  ?  Would  you  have  tnem  entef 
into  the  depths  Df  criticism,  of  logic,  of  scholastic  divinity  ? 
Vou  might  as  weil  expect  them  to  compute  an  eclipse,  or  decide 
tetvveen  the  Cartesian  and  Newtonian  philosophy.  Nay,  I  will 
go  further:  for  I  taive  upon  myself  to  say,  there  are  more  mer 
capable,  in  some  competent  degree,  of  understanding  Newton's 
philosophy,  tlmn  of  forming  any  judgment  at  all  concerning  the 
abstruser  questions  in  metaph^^sics  and  theology."  Yet  the 
persons,  of  whom  the  doctor  particularly  speaks,  were  all  fur- 
ckned  with  Bibles  ;  and  the  abstruse  questions,  which  he  rcfero 
to,  are  :  "  Whether  Christ  did,  or  did  not,  come  down  from  hea- 
ven ?"  whether  "  be  died,  or  did  not  die,  for  the  sins  of  the 
world  ?"  whether  "  he  sent  his  Holy  Spirit  to  assist  and  com- 
fort us,  or  whether  he  did  not  send  him  ?"*  The  learned  doctor 
elsewhere  expresses  himself  still  more  explicitly  on  the  subject 
of  Scripture  without  church  authority.  He  is  combating  the 
Dissenters,  but  his  weapons  are  evidently  as  fatal  to  his  own 
church  as  to  theirs.  "  It  has  long  been  held  among  them  thai 
Scripture  only,  is  the  rule  and  test  of  all  religious  ordinances  ; 
and  that  human  authority  is  to  be  altogether  excluded.  Their 
ancestors,  I  believe,  would  have  been  not  a  little  embarrassed 
with  tlieir  own  maxim,  if  they  had  not  possessed  a  singular 
talent  of  seeing  every  thing  in  Scripture  which  they  had  a  mind  to 
see.  Almost  every  sect  could  find  there  its  own  peculiar  form 
of  church-government ;  and  while  they  forced  only  their  own 
imaginations,  they  hclieved  themselves  to  he  executing  the  decrees 
of  heaven.' '■{ 

I  conclude  this  long  letter  with  a  passage  to  the  present  pur 
pose  from  our  admired  theological  poet : — 

"  As  long  as  words  a  different  sense  will  bear, 
And  each  may  be  his  own  interpreter, 
Our  airy  faith  will  no  foundation  find  : 
The  word's  a  weathercock  for  ev'ry  wind."$ 

I  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

John  Milnsb 


LETTER  IX.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ 

SECOND  FALSE  RULE. 
Dear  sir — 

After  all  that  I  have  written  concerning  the  rule  of  faith, 
adopted  by  yourself,  and  other  more  rational  Protestants,  I  have 
only  yet  treated  of  the  extrinsic  arguments  against  it.     I  now 

»  Discourses  on  variaus  subjects,  by  T.  Balguy,  D.D.  p.  257. 

t  Diacoijroo  "^I*.  p.  126.  t  Dryden'e  Hind  and  Panther,  Part  I 


SECOND    FALSE    RULE.  53 

therefore  proceed  to  investigate  its  intrinsic  nature^  in  order  to 
show  more  fully  the  inadequacy,  or  rather  the  falsehood  of  it. 

When  an  Eng.ish  Protestant  gets  possession  of  an  English 
Bible,  printed  by  Thomas  Basket,  or  other  "  printer  to  the  king's 
most  excellent  majesty,"  he  takes  it  in  nand  with  the  same  con- 
fidence, as  if  he  had  immediately  received  it  from  the  Almighty 
himself,  as  Moses  received  the  tables  of  the  law  on  Mount  Si- 
nai, amidst  thunder  and  lightning.  But  how  vain  is  this  confi- 
dence, whilst  he  adheres  to  the  foregoing  rule  of  faith  !  How 
many  questionable  points  does  he  assume  as  proved,  which  can? 
not  be  proved,  without  relinquishing  his  own  principles  and 
adopting  ours ! 

I.  Supposing  then  you,  dear  sir,  to  be  the  Protestant  I  have 
been  speaking  of;  I  begin  with  asking  you,  by  what  meana 
have  you  learnt  what  is  the  canon  of  Scripture,  that  is  to  say, 
which  are  the  books  that  have  been  written  by  Divine  inspira- 
tion  ;  or  indeed  how  have  you  ascertained  that  any  books  at  all 
have  been  so  written  ?  You  cannot  discover  either  of  these 
things  by  your  rule,  because  the  Scripture,  as  your  great  au- 
thority. Hooker  shows*  and  Chillingworth  allows,  cannot  bear 
testimony  to  itself.  You  will  say  that  the  Old  Testament  was 
written  by  Moses  and  the  prophets,  and  the  New  Testament  by 
the  apostles  of  Christ  and  the  evangelists.  But  admitting  all 
this  ;  it  does  not  of  itself  prove  that  they  always  wrote,  or  in- 
deed that  they  ever  wrote  under  the  influence  of  inspiration. 
They  were,  by  nature,  fallible  men ;  how  have  you  learnt  that 
they  were  infallible  writers?  In  the  next  place,  you  receive 
books,  as  canonical  parts  of  the  Testament,  which  were  not 
written  by  apostles  at  all,  namely,  the  gospels  of  St.  Mark  and 
St.  Luke ;  whilst  you  reject  an  authentic  work  of  great  excel- 
lence,! written  by  one  who  is  termed  in  Scripture  an  apostle,^ 
and  declared  to  be  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;§  I  speak  of  St.  Bar- 
nabas. Lastly,  you  have  no  sufficient  authority  for  asserting 
that  the  sacred  volumes  are  the  genuine  composition  of  the  holy 
personages  whose  names  they  bear,  except  the  tradition  and 
living  voice  of  the  Catholic  Church  ;  since  numerous  apocry- 
phal prophecies  and  spurious  gospels  and  epistles,  under  the 
same  or  equally  venerable  names,  were  circulated  in  thv» 
church,  during  its  early  ages,  and  accredited  by  different 
learned  writers  and  holy  fathers ;  while  some  of  the  really  ca- 
nonical books  were  rejected  or  doubted  of  by  them.  In  short, 
it  was  not  until  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  that  the  genuine 

«  Ecc.les.  Polit.  B.  iii.  sec.  8. 

t  St.  Barnabas.     See  Grabe's  Spicileg.  and  Cotlerus'a  Collect 
♦  Acts,  xiv.  13,  §  Aifs,  xL  24. 

5* 


fl4  LETTER    IX. 

canon  of  Holy  Scriptuie  was  fixed  :  and  then  it  was  fixed  by 
the  tradition  and  authority  of  the  churchy  declared  in  the  Third 
Council  of  Carthage  and  a  decretal  of  P.  Innocent  I.  Indeed 
it  is  so  clear  that  the  canon  of  Scripture  is  built  on  the  tradition 
')f  the  church,  that  most  learned  Protestants,*  with  Luther  him- 
self, havef  been  forced  to  acknowledge  it,  in  terms  almost  as 
strong  as  those  in  the  well-known  declaration  of  St.  Augustin.J 
II.  Again ;  supposing  the  Divine  authority  of  the  sacred 
books  themselves  to  be  established,  how  do  you  know  that  the 
copies  of  them  translated  and  printed  in  your  Bible  are  authen. 
tic  ?  It  is  agreed  upon  amongst  the  learned,  that,  together  with 
the  temple  and  city  of  Jerusalem,  the  original  text  of  Moses  and 
the  ancient  prophets  were  destroyed  by  the  Assyrians,  under 
Nebuchadnezzar  ;§  and,  though  they  were  replaced  by  authen- 
tic copies,  at  the  end  of  the  Babylonish  captivity,  through  the 
pious  care  of  the  prophet  Esdras  or  Ezra,  yet  that  these  also 
perished  in  the  subsequent  persecution  of  Antiochus;||  from 
which  time  we  have  no  evidence  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Old 
Testament,  till  this  was  supplied  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  who 
transmitted  it  to  the  church.  In  like  manner,  granting,  for  ex- 
ample, that  St.  Paul  wrote  an  inspired  epistle  to  the  Romans, 
and  another  to  the  Ephesians ;  yet,  as  the  former  was  intrusted 
to  an  individual,  the  deaconess  Phebe,  to  be  conveyed  by  her  to 
its  destination,ir  and  the  latter  to  his  disciple,  Tychicus,** 
for  the  same  purpose,  it  is  impossible  for  you  to  entertain  a  ra- 
tional  conviction  that  these  epistles,  as  they  stand  in  your  Tes- 
tament, are  exactly  in  the  state  in  which  they  issued  from  the 
apostle's  pen,  or  that  they  are  his  genuine  epistles  at  all ;  with- 
out recurring  to  the  tradition  and  authority  of  the  Catholic 
Church  concerning  them.  To  make  short  of  this  matter,  I  will 
not  lead  vou  into  the  labyrinth  of  biblical  criticism,  nor  will  I 
show  you  the  endless  varieties  of  readings  with  respect  to  words 
and  whole  passages,  which  occur  in  different  copies  of  the  sacred 
text,  but  will  here  content  myself  with  referring  you  to  your  own 
Bible  book,  as  printed  by  authority.  Look,  then,  at  Psalm  xiv., 
as  it  occurs  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  to  which  your  cler 
gy  swear  their  "consent  and  assent;"  then  look  at  the  same 

*  Hooker,  Eccl.  Polit.  C.  iii.  S.  8.  Dr.  Lardner,  in  Bishop  Watson's  Col 
Tol.  ii.  p.  20. 

1  "  We  are  obliged  to  yield  many  things  to  the  Papists — that  with  them 
is  the  word  of  God,  which  we  have  received  from  them ;  otherwise  we 
should  have  known  nothing  at  all  about  it."     Comment,  on  John,  c.  ]6. 

t  "I  should  not  believe  the  Goppel  itself,  if  the  authority  of  the  Catholic 
Church  did  not  oblige  me  to  do  so."     Contra  Epist.  Fundam. 

§  Brett's  Dissert,  in  Bishop  Watson's  Collect,  vol  iii.  p.  5. 

U  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  5  V  Rom.  xvi.     See  Calmet,  Slc 

•*  Ephes.  vi.  SI 


SECOND    FALSE    RULE.  55 

Psali/i  in  your  Bible:  you  will  find  four  whole  verses  in  the 
former  which  are  left  out  in  the  latter !  What  will  you  h;?re  say, 
dear  sir?  You  must  say  that  your  church  has  added  to,  or  else 
that  she  has  taken  away  from  the  laords  of  this  prophecy  /* 

III.  But  your  pains  and  perplexities  concerning  your  rule  of 
faith  must  not  stop  even  at  this  point :  for  though  you  had  de- 
monstrative evidence,  that  the  several  books  in  your  Bible  are 
canonical,  and  authentic  in  the  originals,  it  would  still  remain 
for  you  to  inquire,  whether  or  no  they  are  faithfully  translated 
in  your  English  copy  ?  In  fact,  you  are  aware  that  they  were 
written,  some  of  them  in  Hebrew,  and  some  of  them  in  Greek : 
out  of  which  languages  they  were  translated,  for  the  last  time, 
by  about  fifty  diiferent  men,  of  various  capacities,  learning,  judg- 
ment, opinions,  and  prejudices. f  In  this  inquiry,  the  Catholic 
Church  herself  can  afford  you  no  security  to  build  your  faith  up- 
on ;  much  less  can  any  private  individuals  whosoever.  The  cele- 
brated Protestant  divine,  Episcopius,  was  so  convinced  of  the 
fallibility  of  modern  translations,  that  he  wanted  all  sorts  of  per- 
sons, laborers,  sailors,  women,  &€.,  to  learn  Hebrew  and  Greek. 
Indeed,  it  is  obvious,  that  the  sense  of  a  text  may  depend  upon 
the  choice  of  a  single  word  in  the  translation  ;  nay,  it  sometimes 
depends  upon  the  mere  punctuation  of  a  sentence,  as  may  be  seen 
below. f  Can  you,  then,  consistently,  reject  the  authority  of  the 
great  Universal  Church,  and  yet  build  upon  that  of  some  obscure 
translator  in  the  reign  of  James  I.?  No,  sir,  you  must  your- 
self have  compared  your  English  Bible  with  the  originals,  and 
have  proved  it  to  be  a  faithful  version,  before  you  can  build  your 
faith  upon  it,  as  upon  The  Word  of  God.  To  say  one  word 
now  of  the  Bibles  themselves,  which  have  been  published  by 
authority,  or  generally  used  by  Protestants  in  this  country : — 
Those  of  Tindal,  Coverdale,  and  Queen  Elizabeth's  bishops, 
were  so  notoriously  corrupt,  as  to  cause  a  general  outcry  against 
them  among  learned  Protestants,  as  well  as  among  Catholics, 
in  which  the  king  himself  (James  I.)  joinei  ;§  and  accordingly 

*  The  verses  in  question  being  quoted  by  St.  Paul,  Rom.  iii.  13,  &c. 
there  is  no  doubt  but  the  Common  Bible  is  defective  in  this  passage.  On 
the  othei  hand,  Bishop  Marsh  has  pubHshed  his  conviction  that  the  most 
important  passage  in  the  New  Testament,  1  John,  v.  7,  for  e^tabhshing  the 
Divmity  of  Jesus  Christ,  "  is  spurious."     Elom.  of  Tlieo.  vol.  ii.  p.  90. 

t  See  a  hst  of  them  in  Ant.  Johnson's  Hist.  Account.  Theo.  Coliec.  p.  95. 

I  One  of  the  strongest  passages  for  the  divinity  of  Christ  is  the  following, 
as  it  is  pointed  in  the  Vulgate  :  Ex  quibus  est  Christus^  secundum  carnem^ 
qui  est  super  omnia  Deus  benedictus  in  s<rcula.  Rom.  ix.  5.  But  sea  how 
Grotius  and  Socinus  deprive  the  text  of  all  its  strength,  by  merely  sujstitu 
ting  a  point  for  a  comma  :  Ex  quibus  est  ChristuSf  secundum  carnem  Qui 
tet  super  omnia  Deus  benedictus  in  sacula. 

^  Bishop  Watson's  Collect  vol.  iii.  p.  98. 


56  LETTER    IX. 

ordered  a  new  version  of  it  to  be  made  ;  being  the  same  that  is 
now  in  use,  with  some  few  alterations,  introduced  after  the  Rtys- 
toration.*  Now,  though  these  new  translators  have  corrected 
many  wilful  errors  of  their  predecessors,  most  of  which  were 
levelled  at  Catholic  doctrmes  and  discipline,!  yet  they  have  lefl 
a  suflicient  number  of  them  behind,  for  which  I  do  not  find  that 
their  advocates  offer  any  excuse  whatsoever.:): 

IV.  I  will  make  a  further  supposition,  namely,  that  you  haft 
the  certainty  even  of  revelation,  as  the  Calvinists  used  to  pre 
tend  they  had,  that  your  Bible  is  not  only  canonical  hut  authen 
tic  and  faithful,  in  its  English  garb;  yet  what  would  all  this 
avail  you,  towards  establishing  your  rule  of  faith,  unless  you 
could  be  equally  certain  of  your  understanding  the  whole  of  it 
rightly  ?  For,  as  the  learned  Protestant  bishop,  Walton,  says  :§ 
"  The  word  of  God  does  not  consist  in  mere  letters,  whether 
written  or  printed,  but  in  the  true  sense  of  it;|!  which  no  one 
can  better  interpret  than  the  true  church  to  which  Christ  com- 
mitted this  sacred  pledge."  This  is  exactly  what  St.  Jerom  and 
St.  Augustin  had  said  many  ages  before  him.  "  Let  us  be  per- 
suaded," says  the  former,  "  that  the  gospel  consists  not  in  the 
words,  but  in  the  sense.  A  wrong  explanation  turns  the  word  of 
God  into  the  word  of  man,  and  what  is  worse,  into  the  word  of  the 
devil ;  for  the  devil  himself  could  quote  the  text  of  Scripture. "H 
Now  that  there  are  in  Scripture  "  things  hard  to  be  understood, 
which  the  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest  unto  their  own  destruc- 
tion," is  expressly  affirmed  in  the  Scripture  itself.**  The  same 
thing  is  proved  by  the  frequent  mistakes  of  the  apostles  them- 
selves, with  respect  to  the  words  of  their  Divine  Master.  These 
obscurities  are  so  numberless  throughout  the  sacred  volumes, 
that  the  last  quoted  father,  who  was  as  bright  and  learned  a 
divine  as  ever  took  the  Bible  in  hand,  says  of  it :  "  There  are 

*  Bishop  Watson's  Collect,  vol.  iii.  p.  98. 

t  These  may  be  found  in  the  learned  Greg.  Martin's  Treatise  on  the 
Bubjcct,  and  in  Ward's  Errata  to  the  Protestant  Bible. 

X  Two  of  these  I  had  occasion  to  notice  in  my  Inquiry  into  the  character 
of  the  Irish  Catholics,  namely,  1  Cor.  xi.  J  7,  where  the  conjunctive  and  ia 
put  fur  the  disjunctive  or,  and  Blatt.  xix.  11,  where  cannot  is  put  for  do  not^ 
.0  the  altering  of  the  sense  in  both  instances.  Now,  though  these  con  ip 
lions  stand  in  direct  opposition  to  the  original,  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Grier  ;.nd 
De.  Ryan  themselves  quote  it ;  yet  these  writers  have  the  confidence  to  deny 
they  are  corruptions,  because  they  pretend  to  prove  from  other  texts  that  th, 
cup  is  necessary  and  that  coniinency  is  not  necessary  !  !  Answer  to  Ward'a 
Errata,  p.  13,  page  33. 

4  In  the  Prolegomena  to  his  Polyglott,  cap.  v. 

11  This  obvious  truth  shows  the  extreme  absurdities  of  our  Bible  Socie 
ties  and  modern  schools,  which  regard  nothing  but  the  mere  reading  of  the 
Bible,  leaving  persons  to  embrace  the  most  ojiposite  interpretations  of  tha 
same  texts.         T  In  Ep  ad  Galat.  contra  Luoif  **  2  Pet.  iii.  16 


SECOND    F    LSE    RULE.  51 

more  things  in  Scripture  which  I  am  ignorant  of,  than  those  that 
I  know,"*  Should  you  prefer  a  modern  Protestant  authority  to 
an  ancient  Catholic  one,  listen  to  the  clear-headed  Balguy. 
His  words  are  these :  "  But  wliat,  you  will  reply,  is  all  this  to 
Christians  ?  to  those  who  see,  by  a  clear  and  strong  light,  the 
dispensation  of  God  to  mankind  '?  We  are  not  as  those  loho  have 
no  hope.  The  day-spnng  from  on  high  hath  visited  us.  The 
Sp  rd  of  God  shall  lead  us  into  all  truth.  To  this  delusive  dream 
of  human  folly,  founded  only  on  mistaken  interpretations  of 
Scripture,  I  answer,  in  one  word  :  Open  your  Bibles ;  take  the 
first  page  that  occurs  in  either  Testament,  and  tell  me,  with- 
out disguise,  is  there  nothing  in  it  too  hard  for  your  under- 
standing ?  If  you  find  all  before  you  clear  and  easy,  you  may 
thank  God  for  giving  you  a  privilege  which  he  has  denied  to 
many  thousands  of  sincere  believers. "f 

Manifold  is  the  cause  of  the  obscurity  of  Holy  Writ ;  1st,  the 
sublimity  of  a  considerable  part  of  it,  which  speaks  either  lite- 
rally or  figuratively  of  the  Deity  and  his  attributes ;  of  the 
Word  incarnate  ;  of  angels  and  other  spiritual  beings ; — 2dly, 
the  mysterious  nature  of  prophecy  in  general ; — 3dly,  the  pe- 
culiar idioms  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  languages ; — lastly, 
the  numerous  and  bold  figures  of  speech,  s«ch  as  allegory, 
irony,  hyperbole,  catachresis,  antiphrasis,  &c.,  which  are  sc 
frequent  with  the  sacred  penmen,  particularly  the  ancient  pro- 
phets.if  I  should  like  to  hear  any  one  of  those,  who  protend  to 
find  the  Scripture  so  easy,  attempting  to  give  a  clear  explana- 
tion of  the  67th,  alias  the  68th  Psalm  ;  or  the  last  chapter  ol 
Ecclesiastes.  Is  it  an  easy  matter  to  reconcile  certain  well- 
known  speeches  of  each  of  the  holy  patriarchs,  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  with  the  incommutable  precept  of  truth  ?  I 
may  here  notice,  among  a  thciisand  other  such  difficulties,  that 
when  our  Saviour  sent  his  twelve  apostles  to  preach  the  Gospci 
to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  he  told  them,  according 
to  St.  Mathew,  x.  10.,  to  Provide  neither  gold  nor  silver — nei- 
ther shoes  nor  yet  staves  :  whereas  St.  Mark,  vi.  says,  he  com- 
manded them  that  they  should  mke  nothing  for  their  journey,  save 
a  staff  only.  You  may  indeed  answer,  with  Chillingworth  and 
Bishop  Porteus,  that  whatever  obscurities  there  may  be  in  cer- 
tain parts  of  Scripture,  it  is  clear  in  all  that  is  necessary  to  be 
known.  But  on  what  authority  do  these  writers  ground  this 
maxim  1  They  have  none  at  all ;  bi  it  they  leg  the  question,  as 
logicians  express  it,  to  extricate  themselves  from  an  absurdity ; 

•  St.  Aug.  Ep.  ad  Januar.  t  Dr.  Balguy'a  Discourses,  p.  133 

I  See  examples  of  tliese  in  Bonfreriua's  Praeloquia  and  in  the  Appendixe* 
to  them,  at  tlie  end  of  Menochiua. 


58  LETTER    IX. 

and  in  so  doing  thoy  overturn  t'neir  fundamental  rule.  The} 
profess  to  gather  their  articles  of  faith  and  morals  from  mere 
Scripture  ;  nevertheless  confessing  that  they  understand  only  o 
part  of  it,  they  presume  to  make  a  distinction  in  it,  and  to  say 
this  part  is  necessary  to  be  known,  the  other  part  is  not  neces- 
sary. But  to  place  this  matter  in  a  clear  light,  it  is  o  jvious 
that  if  any  articles  are  particularly  necessary  to  be  known  anJ 
believed,  they  are  those  which  point  to  the  God  whom  we  are 
to  adore,  and  the  moral  precepts  which  we  are  to  observe. 
Now,  is  it  demonstratively  evident,  from  mere  Scripture^  thai 
Christ  is  God,  and  to  be  adored  as  such  1  Most  modern  Pro- 
testants of  eminence  answer  NO ;  and,  in  defence  of  their  as- 
sertion, quote  the  following  among  other  texts :  The  Father  h 
greater  than  I,  John,  xiv.  28 ;  to  which  the  orthodox  divines  ep- 
pose  those  texts  of  the  same  evangelist :  /  and  the  Father  are 
one,  X.  30:  The  Word  was  God,  &c.  i.  1.  Again,  we  find  the 
following  among  the  moral  precepts  of  the  Old  Testament : — 
"  Go  thy  way  :  eat  thy  bread  with  joy,  and  drink  thy  wine  with 
a  merry  heart :  for  God  now  accepteth  thy  works.  Let  thy 
garments  be  always  white,  and  let  thy  head  lack  no  ointment 
Live  joyfully  with  the  wife  whom  thou  lovest,"  &;c.  Eccles.  ix 
7,  8,  9.  In  the  New  Testament  we  meet  with  the  following 
seemingly  practical  commands :  "  Swear  not  at  all,"  Matt.  v. 
34.  *'  Call  no  man  father  upon  earth — neither  be  you  called 
masters,  for  one  is  your  Master,  Christ,"  Matt,  xxiii.  9,  10. 
"  If  any  man  sue  thee  at  law,  to  take  away  thy  coat,  let  him 
have  thy  cloak  also,"  v.  46.  "  Give  to  every  man  that  asketh 
of  thee ;  and  of  him  that  taketh  away  thy  goods  ask  liim  not 
again,"  Luke  ^i.  33.  "  When  thou  makest  a  dinner  or  a  sup- 
per, call  not  thy  friends  nor  thy  brethren,"  xiv.  12.  These  are 
a  few  among  hundreds  of  other  difficulties,  regarding  our  moral 
duties,  which,  though  confronted  by  other  texts,  seemingly  of  a 
contrary  meaning,  nevertheless  show  that  the  Scripture  is  not, 
of  itself,  demonstratively  clear  in  points  of  first  rate  import- 
ance, and  that  the  Divine  law,  like  human  laws,  without  an  au- 
thorized interpreter,  must  ever  be  a  source  of  doubt  and  con- 
-ention. 

V.  I  have  said  enough  concerning  the  contentions  among 
Protestants ;  I  will  now,  by  way  of  concluding  this  letter,  say 
a  word  or  two  of  their  doubts.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  certam, 
at  a  learned  Catholic  controvertist  argues,*  that  a  person  who 
thllows  your  rule  cannot  make  an  act  of  faith ;  this  being,  ac- 
cording to  your  great  authority,   Bishop  Pearson,  an  assent  to 

*  Shcffmachcr,  Lettres  d'un  Docteur  Cat.  a  un  Geniilhomme  Prot.  vol 


SECOND  7AI.se  rule.  59 

the  revealed  articles,  with  a  certain  and  fall  persuasion  of  their 
revealed  truth  :*  or,  to  use  the  words  of  your  primate,  Wake : 
^'  When  I  give  my  assent  to  what  God  has  revealed,  I  do  it, 
not  only  with  a  certain  assurance  that  what  I  believe  is  truCy 
but  with  an  absolute  security  that  it  cannot  befalse.'^-f  Now  the 
Protestant,  who  has  nothing  to  trust  to  hut  his  own  talents,  ir 
interpreting  the  books  of  Scripture,  especially  with  all  the  dif- 
ficulties and  uncertainties  which  he  labors  under,  according  to 
what  I  have  shown  above,  never  can  rise  to  this  certam  assur- 
ance and  absolute  security,  as  to  what  is  revealed  in  Scripture. 
The  utmost  he  can  say  is :  such  and  such  appears  to  me  at  the 
present  moment  to  be  the  sense  of  the  texts  before  me :  and  if  he  is 
candid,  he  will  add  ;  but  perhaps,  upon  further  consideration  and 
upon  comparing  these  with  other  texts,  I  may  alter  my  opinion. 
How  far  short,  dear  sir,  is  such  mere  opinion  from  the  certainty 
of  faith  !  I  may  here  refer  you  to  your  own  experience.  Are 
you  accustomed,  in  reading  your  Bible,  to  conclude,  in  your 
own  mind,  with  respect  to  those  points  which  appear  to  you 
most  clear :  I  believe  in  these,  with  a  certain  assurance  of  their 
truth,  and  an  absolute  security  that  they  cannot  be  false  ;  espe 
cially  when  you  reflect  that  other  learned,  intelligent,  and  sin- 
cere Christians  have  understood  those  passages  in  quite  a  differ- 
ent sense  from  what  you  do  ?  For  my  part,  having  sometimes 
lived  and  conversed  familiarly  with  Protestants  of  this  descrip- 
tion, and  noticed  their  controversial  discourses,  I  never  found 
one  of  them  absolutely  fixed  in  his  mind,  ibr  any  long  time  to- 
gether, as  to  the  whole  of  his  belief.  I  invite  you  to  make  the 
experiment  on  the  most  intelligent  and  religious  Protestant  of 
your  acquaintance.  Ask  him  a  considerable  number  of  ques- 
tions, on  the  most  important  points  of  his  religion  :  note  down 
his  answers,  while  they  are  fresh  in  your  memory.  Ask  him 
the  same  questions,  but  in  a  different  order,  a  month  after- 
wards ;  when  I  can  almost  venture  to  say,  you  will  be  sur- 
prised at  the  difference  you  will  find,  between  his  former  and 
his  latter  creed.  After  all,  we  need  not  use  any  other  means 
to  discover  the  state  of  doubt  and  uncertainty,  in  which  many 
of  your  greatest  divines  and  most  profound  scriptural  students 
nave  passed  their  days,  than  to  look  into  their  publications.  I 
shall  satisfy  myself  with  citing  the  Pastoral  Charge  of  one  of 
them,  a  li^'ing  bishop,  to  his  clergy.  Speaking  of  the  Christian 
doctrines  lie  says :  "  I  think  it  safer  to  tell  you,  where  they  are 
contained,  than  what  they  are.  They  are  contained  in  the  Bible, 
ani  if,  in  reading  that  book,  your  sentiments  concerning  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity  should  be  different  from  those  of  youi 

•  On  the  Creed,  p.  15.  t  Princip  of  •"'-hrist  Rel.  p.  17 


60  LETTER    IX, 

neiglibor,  or  from  those  of  the  church,  be  persvaaed  on  youi 
part,  that  infallibility  appertains  as  little  to  you  as  it  does  to 
tlie  church."*  Can  you  reaa  this,  my  dear  sir,  without  shud- 
dering ?  If  a  most  learned  and  intelligent  bishop  and  professor 
of  divinity,  as  Dr.  Watson  certainly  is,  after  studying  all  the 
Scriptures  and  all  the  commentators  upon  them,  is  forced  pub- 
licly to  confess  to  his  assembled  clergy,  that  he  cannot  tell  them 
what  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  are,  how  unsettled  must  his 
mind  have  been  !  and  of  course,  how  far  removed  from  the 
assurance  of  faith !  In  the  next  place,  how  fallacious  must 
that  rule  of  the  mere  Bible  be,  which,  while  he  recommends  i: 
to  them,  he  plainly  signifies,  will  not  lead  them  to  a  uniformity 
of  sentiments,  one  with  another,  nor  even  with  tlieir  church ! 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  sir,  but  that  those  who  entertam 
doubts  concerning  the  truth  of  their  religion,  in  the  course  of 
their  lives,  must  experience  the  same  with  redoubled  anxiety 
at  the  approach  of  death.  Accordingly  there  are,  I  believe, 
few  of  our  Catholic  priests  in  an  extensive  ministry,  who  have 
not  been  frequently  called  in  to  receive  dying  Protestants  into 
the  Catholic  Church, f  while  not  a  single  instance  caw  be  pro- 
duced, of  a  Catholic  wishing  to  die  in  any  other  communion 
than  his  own.  J  O  Death,  thou  great  enlightener !  O  truth- 
telling  Death,  how  powerful  art  thou  in  confuting  the  blasphe- 
mies, and  dissipating  the  prejudices  of  the  enemies  of  God's 
church !  Taking  it  for  granted,  that  you,  dear  sir,  have  not 
been  without  your  doubts  and  fears  as  to  the  safety  of  the  road 
in  which  you  are  walking  to  eternity,  more  particularly  in  the 
course  of  the  present  controversy,  and  being  anxious  beyond 
expression  that  you  should  be  free  from  these,  when  you  arrive 
at  the  brink  of  that  vast  ocean,  I  cannot  do  better  than  address 
you  in  the  words  of  the  great  St.  Augustin,  to  one  in  your  sit- 
uation :  "  If  you  think  you  have  been  sufficiently  tossed  about, 

*  Bishop  Watson's  Dharge  to  his  Clergy,  in  1795. 

t  A  large  proportirn  of  those  grandees  who  were  the  most  forward  m 
promoting  tho  Reformation,  so  called,  and  among  the  rest  Cromwell,  Earlo. 
Essex,  the  King's  Ecclesiastical  Vicar,  when  they  came  to  die,  returned  to 
the  Catholic  Church.  This  was  the  case  also  with  Luther's  chief  protector, 
the  Elector  of  Saxony,  the  persecuting  Queen  of  Navarre,  and  many  other 
foreign  Protestant  princes.  Some  bi.^hops  of  the  Established  Church;  for 
instance,  Goodman  and  Cheyncy  of  Gloucester,  and  Gordon  of  Gla3gow, 
probably  also  King  of  London,  and  Halifax  of  St.  Asaph's,  died  Catholics. 
A  long  list  of  titled  or  otherwise  distinguished  personages,  who  have  either  re 
turned  to  the  Catholic  faith,  or,  for  the  first  time  embraced  it  on  their  death 
beds,  in  modern  times,  might  be  named  here,  if  it  were  prudent  to  dM  so. 

t  This  is  remarked  by  Sir  Toby  Mathews,  son  of  the  Archb  ehop  of 
York,  Hugh  Cressy,  Canon  of  Windsor  and  Dean  of  Lcighlin,  F.  Wal.-ing 
ham,  and  Ant.  Ulric,  Duke  of  Brunswick,  all  illustrious  converts  ;  also  Uiit 
^cT  in  his  Conferences,  p.  400. 


THE    TRUE    RULE.  <1 

and  ivisn  to  see  an  end  to  your  anxieties,  follow  the  rule  of 
Catholic  discipline,  which  came  down  to  us  through  the  apos- 
tles from  Christ  himself,  and  which  shall  descend  from  us  to 
the  latest  posterity."*  Yes,  renounce  the  fatal  and  foolish  pre- 
sumption of  fancying  that  you  can  interpret  the  Scripture  bel- 
ter than  the  Cstholic  Church,  aided,  as  she  is,  by  the  traditicu 
of  all  ages,  anl  the  Spirit  of  all  truth. f  But  I  mean  to  treat 
this  latter  subject  at  due  length  in  my  next  letter. 

]  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  X.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  &c 

THE  TRUE  RULE. 

Dear  sir — 

I  HAVE  received  your  letter,  and  also  two  others  from  gen- 
tlemen of  your  Society,  on  what  I  have  written  to  you  concern- 
ing the  insufficiency  of  Scripture,  interpreted  by  individuals,  to 
constitute  a  secure  rule  of  faith.  From  these  it  is  plain,  that 
my  arguments  have  produced  a  considerable  sensation  in  the 
society  ;  insomuch  that  I  find  myself  obliged  to  remind  them 
of  the  terms  on  which  we  mutually  entered  upon  this  corres- 
pondence ;  namely,  that  each  one  should  be  at  perfect  liberty 
to  express  his  sentiments  on  the  important  subject  under  con- 
sideration, without  complaint  or  offence  of  the  other.  The 
strength  of  my  arguments  is  admitted  by  you  all  :  yet  you  all 
bring  invincible  objections,  as  you  consider  them,  from  Scrip- 
ture and  other  sources  against  them.  I  think  it  will  render  our 
controversy  more  simple  and  clear,  if,  with  your  permission,  I 
defer  answering  these,  till  after  I  have  said  all  that  I  have  to 
say  concerning  the  Catholic  rule  of  faith. 

The  Catholic  rule  of  faith,  as  I  stated  before,  is  not  merely 
the  written  word  of  God,  but  the  ivhoJe  word  of  God,  loth 
written  and  umvrilten  ;  in  other  words,  Scripture  and  tradition 
and  these  propounded  and  explained  hy  the  Catholic  Church 
This  implies  that  we  have  a  twofold  rule  or  law,  and  that  w? 
tiave  an  interpreter,  or  judge,  to  explain  it,  and  to  decide  upo» 
ft  in  all  doubtful  points. 

I.  1  enter  upon  this  subject  with  observing  that  all  written  law* 

♦  De  Utiiit.  Cred.  c.  8. 

f^  Bosauet,  in  his  celebrated  Conference  with  Claude,  which  produced  th» 
conversion  of  Mile.  Duras,  obliged  him  to  confess  that,  by  the  Protestan 
-ule,  "every  artisan  and  husbandman  may  and  ought  to  believe  that  ha 
can  understand  the  Scriptures  better  than  all  the  fathers  and  docton  of  th© 
tLj-ch,  ancient  and  modern,  put  together" 

6 


rt2  LETTER    X. 

nccossari  y  suppose  the  existence  of  unwritten  hiDS,  and  ii  Heed 
depend  upon  tlicm  for  their  force  and  authority.  Not  to  run 
into  the  depths  of  ethics  and  metaphysics  on  this  subject,  you 
know,  dear  sir,  that,  in  this  kingdom,  we  have  common  or  un 
written  law,  and  statute  or  written  law,  both  of  them  binding ; 
but  diat  tlie  former  necessarily  precedes  the  latter.  The  legis- 
lature, for  example,  makes  a  written  statute,  but  we  must 
learn  beforehand,  from  the  common  law,  wliat  constitutes  the  le 
gislature,  and  we  must  also  have  learnt  from  the  natural  and 
the  Divine  laws,  that  the  legislature  is  to  he  obeyed  in  all  things 
which  these  do  not  render  unlawful.  "  The  municipal  law  of 
England,"  says  Judge  Blackstone,  "  may  be  divided  into  lex 
non  scripta,  the  unwritten  or  common  law,  and  the  lex  scripta, 
or  statute  law."*  He  afterwards  calls  the  common  law,  "  the 
first  ground  and  chief  corner-stone  of  the  laws  of  England."! 
*'If,"  continues  he,  "the  question  arises,  how  these  customs  or 
maxims  are  to  be  known,  and  by  whom  their  validity  are  to  be  de- 
termined ?  The  answer  is,  by  the  judges  in  the  several  courts  of 
justice.  They  are  the  depositories  of  the  laws,  the  living  oracles^ 
who  must  decide  in  all  cases  of  doubt,  and  who  are  bound  by 
oath  to  decide  according  to  the  law  of  the  land.":]:  So  absurd 
is  the  idea  of  binding  mankind  by  written  laws,  without  laying 
an  adequate  foundation  for  the  authority  of  those  laws,  and 
without  constituting  living  judges  to  decide  upon  them  ! 

Neither  has  the  Divine  wisdom,  in  founding  the  spiritual 
kingdom  of  his  church,  acted  in  that  inconsistent  manner.  The 
Almighty  did  not  send  a  book,  the  New  Testament,  to  Chris- 
tians, and,  without  so  much  as  establishing  the  authority  of  thai 
book,  leave  them  to  interpret  it,  till  the  end  -of  time,  each  one 
according  to  his  own  opinions  or  prejudices.  But  our  blessed 
Master  and  Legislator,  Jesus  Clirist,  having  first  demonstrated 
his  own  divine  legation  from  his  heavenly  Father  by  undeniable 
miracles,  commissioned  his  chosen  apostles,  by  word  of  mouth, 
ta  proclaim  and  explain,  by  word  of  mouth,  his  doctrines  and 
precepts  to  all  nations,  promising  to  be  with  them  in  the  execu- 
tion  of  this  ofiice  of  his  heralds  and  judges,  even  to  the  end  of 
the  world.  This  implies  the  power  he  had  given  them,  of  or- 
daining  successors  in  this  office,  as  they  themselves  were  only 
to  live  the  ordinary  term  of  human  life.  True  it  is,  that,  duriig 
the  execution  of  their  commission,  he  inspired  some  of  them^ 

and  of  their  disciples,  to  write  certain  parts  of  these  doctrines 
iind  precepts,  namely,  the  canonical  gospels  and  epistles,  which 

hey  adaressed,  for  the  most  part,  to  particular  persons  and  on 

•  Comment,  on  the  Laws,  Introduct.  sect  iii. 

t  Ibid.  sec\  iii.  p.  73,  8th  edit.  X  Ibid,  p  » 


THE    TRUE    RULE.  63 

particular  occasiohs  ;  but  these  inspired  writings,  by  nu  means, 
renaered  void  Christ's  commission  to  the  apostles  and  their  suc- 
cessors, of  preaching  and  explaining  his  word  to  the  nations,  or 
his  promise  of  being  "  with  them"  till  the  end  of  time.  On  the 
contrary,  the  inspiration  of  these  very  writings  is  not  otherwise 
known  than  by  the  viva  voce  evidence  of  these  depositories  and 
judges  of  the  revealed  truths. — This  analysis  of  revealed  reli- 
gion,  so  conformable  to  reason  and  the  civil  constitution  of  our 
country,  is  proved  to  be  true,  by  the  written  word  itself — by 
the  tradition  and  conduct  of  the  apostles — and  by  t'he  constant 
testimony  and  practice  of  the  fathers  and  doctors  of  the  church 
in  all  ages. 

II.  Nothing  then,  dear  sir,  is  further  from  the  doctrine  and 
practice  of  the  Catholic  Church  than  to  slight  the  Holy  Scrip, 
mres.  So  far  from  this,  she  had  religiously  preserved  and  per- 
petuated them,  from  age  to  age,  during  almost  1590  years  be. 
fore  Protestants  existed.  She  has  consulted  them,  and  con- 
firmed  her  decrees  from  them  in  her  several  councils.  She 
enjoins  her  pastors,  whose  business  it  is  to  instruct  the  faithful, 
to  read  and  study  them  without  intermission,  knowing  that  "All 
Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  rigliteous- 
ness."  2  Tim.  iii.  16.  Finally,  she  p^-oves  her  perpetual  righl 
to  announce  and  explain  the  truths  and  precepts  of  her  divine 
Founder,  by  several  of  the  strongest  and  c'learest  passages  con- 
tained in  Holy  Writ.*  Such,  for  the  example,  is  the  last  com- 
mission of  Christ,  alluded  to  above :  "  Go  ye  therefore  and 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe 
all  the  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you.  x\nd  lo !  1 
am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world."  Matt. 
xxviii.  19,  20.  And  again,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  Mark,  xvi.  15.  It  is 
preaching  and  teaching  then,  that  is  to  say,  the  unwritten  word. 
which  Christ  has  appointed  to  be  the  general  method  of  propa. 
gating  his  divine  truths  :  and,  whereas  he  promises  to  be  with 
\i8  apostles  to  the  end  of  the  toorld  ;  this  pi'oves  their  authority  in 
expounding,  and  shows  that  the  same  authcrity  was  to  descend 
to  their  legitimate  successors  in  the  sacred  ministry,  since  they 
hemselves  were  only  to  live  the  ordinary  term  of  human  life, 
in  like  manner  the  following  clear  texts  prove  the  authority  of 
the  apostles  and  their  successors,  ybr  ever ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
authority  of  the  ever-living  and  speaking  tribunal  of  the  church, 

*  St.  Austin  uses  this  argument  against  the  Donatists  :  "  In  ^cripturia 
discimus  Christum,  in  scripturis  discimus  Ecclesiam.  Si  Christum  leneatis;» 
qiwre  Ecclesiam  non  tenetis  ?" 


04  LETTER    X. 

in  expounding  our  Saviour's  doctrine  "  I  will  pray  the  la. 
ther,  and  he  shall  give  you  anotiier  Comforter,  that  he  may 
abide  with  you  for  ever." — "  The  Comforter,  which  is  the  H^ly 
Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name  ;  he  shall  teach 
you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance, 
wliatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you."  John,  xiv.  16,  26.  St. 
Paul,  speaking  of  both  the  unwritten  and  the  written  word,  puts 
them  upon  a  level,  where  he  says,  "  Therefore,  brethren,  stand 
fast  and  hold  the  tradition  ye  have  been  taught,  whether  by 
word  or  our  epistle."  2  Thess.  v.  13.  Finally,  St.  Peter  pro- 
nounces that  "No  prophecy  of  Scripture  is  of  any  private  in 
terpretation."  2  Pet.  i.  20. 

HI.  That  the  apostles,  and  the  apostolical  men  whom  tney 
formed,  followed  this  method  prescribed  by  their  Master,  is  un- 
questionable ;  as  we  have  positive  proofs  from  Scripture,  as 
well  as  from  ecclesiastical  history,  that  they  did  so.  St.  Mark, 
after  recording  the  above-cited  admonition  of  preaching  tlie  gos. 
pel,  which  Christ  left  to  his  apostles,  adds,  "  And  they  went 
forth  and  preached  everywhere  ;  the  Lord  working  with  them, 
and  confirming  the  word  with  signs  following."  Mark,  xvi.  20. 
St.  Peter  preached  throughout  Judea  and  Syria,  and  last  of  all, 
in  Italy  and  at  Rome ;  St.  Paul  throughout  Lesser  Asia, 
Greece,  and  as  far  as  Spain ;  St.  Andrew  penetrat<^d  into 
Scythia  ;  St.  Thomas  and  St.  Bartholomew  into  Parthia  and 
India,  and  so  of  the  others  ;  everywhere  converting  and  in- 
structing thousands,  hy  word  of  mouth  ;  founding  churches,  and 
ordaming  bishops  and  priests  to  do  the  same.  "  They  ordained 
them  priests  in  every  church."  Acts,  xiv.  22.  "  For  this 
cause,"  says  St.  Paul  to  Titus,  "  I  left  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou 
shouldest  set  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting,  and  shouldest 
ordain  priests  in  every  city,  as  1  had  appointed  thee."  Tit.  i.  5. 
And  to  Timothy  :  "  The  things  that  thou  hast  heard  of  me 
among  many  witnesses,  the  same  commit  thou  to  those  faithful 
men  who  shall  be  able  to  teach  others  also."  2  Tim.  ii.  2.  l^ 
any  of  them  wrote,  it  was  on  some  particular  occasion,  and, 
for  the  most  part,  to  a  particular  person,  or  congregation,  with- 
out either  giving  directions,  or  providing  means  of  communica- 
ting their  epistles  or  their  gospels  to  the  rest  of  the  Christiana 
throughout  the  world.  Hence  it  happened,  as  I  have  before 
remarked,  that  it  was  not  till  the  end  of  the  founh  century, 
that  the  canon  of  Holy  Scriptures  was  absolutely  settled  as  it 
now  stands.  True  it  is,  that  the  apostles,  before  they  separated 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  different  nations,  agreed  upon  a  short 
symbol  or  profession  of  faith,  called  "  The  Apostles'  Creed," 
but  even  this  they  did  not  commit  to  writing  :*  and  whweas  ihej 

•  RufHn.  Inter  Opera  Hieron 


THE    TRUE    RTJLK.  65 

made  this,  amongst  olhei  articles  of  it,  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy 
Church,"*  they  made  no  mention  at  all  of  the  Holj  Scriptures. 
This  circumstance  confirms  what  their  example  proves,  that 
the  Christian  doctrine  and  discipline  might  have  been  propagated 
and  preserved  by  the  unwritten  word,  or  tradition,  joined  with 
the  authority  of  the  church,  though  the  Scriptures  had  not  heen 
composed ;  however  profitable  these  most  certainly  are  "  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  and  for  instruction  in  right- 
eousness." 2  Tim.  iii.  16.  I  have  already  quoted  one  of  the 
ornaments  of  your  church,  who  says,  that  "  the  canonical  epis- 
tles (and  he  might  have  added  the  gospels)  are  not  regular 
treatises  upon  the  Christian  religion  .-"f  and  I  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  show  from  an  ancient  father,  that  this  religion  did  pre- 
vail and  flourish  soon  after  the  age  of  the  apostles,  among  na- 
tions which  were  not  even  acquainted  with  the  use  of  letters. 

iV.  However  light  Protestants  of  this  age  may  make  of  the 
ancient  fathers,  as  theological  authorities,^  they  cannot  object 
to  them  as  faithful  witnesses  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of 
the  church  in  their  respective  times.  It  is  chiefly  in  the  latter 
character  that  I  am  going  to  bring  forward  a  certain  number  of 
them,  to  prove  that,  during  the  five  first  ages  of  the  church  no 
less  than  in  the  subsequent  ages,  the  unwritten  word,  or  tradi- 
tion, was  held  by  her  in  equal  estimation  with  the  Scripture 
itself,  and  that  she  claimed  a  divine  right  of  propounding  and 
explaining  them  both. 

I  begin  with  the  disciple  of  the  apostles,  St.  Ignatius,  Bishop 
of  Antioch.  It  is  recorded  of  him  that,  in  his  passage  to  Rome, 
where  he  was  sentenced  to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts,  he  ex- 
horted the  Christians,  v/ho  got  access  to  him,  "  to  guard  them- 
selves against  the  rising  heresies,  and  to  adhere  with  the  utmosv 
firmness  to  the  tradition  of  the  apostles.''^  The  same  senti- 
ments appear  in  this  saint's  epistles,  and  also  in  those  of  his 
fellow-martyr,  St.  Polycarp,  "  the  angel  of  the  Church  of 
Smyrna."|| 

One  of  the  disciples  of  the  last-mentioned  holy  bishop  was 
St.  Irenaeus,  who  passing  into  Gaul  became  Bishop  of  Lyons. 

*  The  title  Catholic  was  afterwards  added,  when  b'resies  increased. 

t  Elements  of  Theology,  vol.  ii. 

t  Jewel,  Andrews,  Hooker,  Morton,  Pearson,  ana  other  Protestant  di, 
ines  of  the  I6th  and  17ih  centuries,  labored  hard  to  press  the  fathers  into 
Jieir  service,  but  with  such  bad  success,  that  the  succeeding  controversial. 
ists  gave  them  up  in  despair.  The  learned  Protestant  Casaubon,  confessed 
that  the  fathers  were  all  on  the  Catholic  side  ;  the  equally  learned  Obrectcth 
testifies  that,  in  reading  their  works,  "  he  was  frequently  provoked  to  throw 
them  on  the  ground,  finding  them  so  full  :f  Popery  ;"  while  Middleton  heapa 
every  kind  of  obloquy  upon  them. 

i  Euseb.  His*  1  iii.  c.  30.  H  Revel  ii.  8 

6* 


6fJ  LETTER   X. 

He  las  left  twelve  books  against  the  heresies  of  his  time,  wh  ick 
aboTind  with  testimonies  to  the  present  purpose  ;  some  few  of 
which  I  shall  here  insert.  He  writes,  "  Nothing  is  more  easy 
to  those  who  seeK  for  the  truth,  than  to  remark  in  every  churf3h 
the  tradition  which  the  apostles  have  manifested  to  all  the  world. 
We  can  name  the  bishops  appointed  by  the  apostles  in  the  sev- 
eral churches,  and  the  successors  of  those  bishops  down  to  our' 
own  time,  none  of  whom  ever  taught,  or  heard  of  such  doctrines 
8U$  these  heretics  dream  of."*  This  holy  father  emphatically  af 
firms  that,  "  In  explaining  the  Scriptures,  Christians  are  to  at 
tend  to  the  pastors  of  the  church,  who,  by  the  ordinance  of  God, 
have  received  the  inhentance  of  truth,  with  the  succession  of 
their  sees."']'  He  adds,  "  The  tongues  of  nations  vary,  but  the 
viitue  of  tradition  is  everywhere  one  and  the  same :  nor  do  tlie 
churches  in  Germany  believe  or  teach  differently  from  those  in 
Spain,  Gaul,  the  East,  Egypt,  or  Lybia."J  "Since  it  woukt 
be  tedious  to  enumerate  the  succession  of  all  the  churches,  we 
appeal  to  the  faith  and  tradition  of  the  greatest,  most  ancient, 
and  best  known  church — that  of  Rome,  founded  by  the  apos 
ties,  SS.  Peter  and  Paul ; — for,  with  this  church  all  others 
agree,  in  as  much  as  in  her  is  preserved  the  tradition  which 
comes  down  from  the  apostles.''"§  "  SUPPOSING  THE  APOS- 
TLES HAD  NOT  LEFT  US  THE  SCRIPTURES,  OUGHT 
WE  NOT  STILL  TO  HAVE  FOLLOWED  THE  ORDI- 
NANCE OF  TRADITION,  which  they  consigned  to  those  to 
whom  they  committed  the  churches  ?  It  is  this  ordinance  of 
tradition  which  many  nations  of  barbarians,  believing  in  Christ, 
follow,  without  the  use  of  letters  or  ink."|| 

Tertullian,  who  flourished  200  years  after  the  Christian  era; 
has  left  us,  amongst  his  other  works,  one  of  the  same  nature, 
and  almost  the  same  title  with  that  last  cited.  In  this,  speak- 
ing of  the  contemporary  heretics,  he  says,  "  They  meddle  with 
the  Scriptures,  and  adduce  arguments  from  them  ;  for,  in  treat- 
ing of  faith,  they  pretend  that  they  ought  not  to  argue  upon 
any  other  ground  than  the  written  documents  of  faiih :  thus 
they  weary  the  firm,  catch  tlie  weak,  and  fill  the  middle  sort 
with  doubt.  We  begin,  therefore,  with  laying  it  down  as  a 
maxim,  that  these  men  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  argue  at  all 
from  Scripture. — In  fact  these  disputes  about  the  sense  of 
Scripture  have  generally  no  other  eflect  than  to  disorder  either 
the  stomach  or  the  brain. — It  i«,  therefore,  the  wrong  method  to 
appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  since  these  afford  either  no  decision, 
or,  at  most,  only  a  doubtful  one.     And  even  if  this  were  not 

•  AdverB.  Ilseres.  1.  iii  c.  5.  t  L.  iv.  c.  43  t  L  i.  c.  3  * 

4  L.  iii.  c.  3.  H  L.  iv.  c.  64. 


THE    TRUE    RULE.  (57 

the  case,  still,  in  appealing  to  Scripture,  the  natural  order  of 
things  requires  that  we  should  first  inquire  to  whom  t.ie  Scrip, 
turei?  belong  ?  From  whom  and  by  whom,  and  on  what  occa. 
sion,  and  to  whom,  that  tradition  was  delivered  by  which  we  be- 
came Christians  ?  For  where  the  truth  of  Christian  discipline 
and  faith  is  found,  there  is  the  truth  of  Scripture,  and  of  the  in- 
terpretation of  it,  and  of  all  Christian  traditions."*  He  else- 
where says,  "  That  doctrine  is  evidently  true  which  was  first 
delivered  :  on  the  contrary,  that  is  false  which  is  of  a  later 
date. — This  maxim  stands  immovable  against  the  attempts  of 
all  late  heresies. — Let  such  then  produce  the  origin  of  the' 
churches  :  let  them  show  the  succession  of  their  bishops  from 
the  apostles,  or  their  disciples. — If  you  live  near  Italy,  you  see 
before  your  eyes  the  Roman  Church :  happy  church !  to  which 
the  apostles  have  left  the  inheritance  of  their  doctrine  with 
their  blood  !  Where  Peter  was  crucified,  like  his  Master; 
where  Paul  was  beheaded  like  the  Baptist ! — If  this  be  so,  it  is 
plain,  as  we  have  said,  that  heretics  are  not  to  be  allowed  to 
appeal  to  Scripture,  since  they  have  no  claim  to  it. — Hence  it  is 
proper  to  address  them  as  follows  :  '  Who  are  you  ?  Whence 
do  you  come  ?  What  business  have  you  strangers  with  my 
property  ?  By  what  right  are  you,  Marcion,  felling  my  trees  ? 
By  what  authority  are  you,  Valentine,  turning  the  course  of 
my  streams  ?  Under  what  pretence  are  you,  Apelles,  re 
moving  my  land-marks  ?  The  estate  is  mine :  I  have  the 
ancient,  the  prior  possession  of  it.  I  have  the  title-deeds  de- 
livered to  me  by  the  original  proprietors.  I  am  the  heir  of 
the  apostles ;  they  have  made  their  will  in  my  favor :  while 
they  disinherited  and  cast  you  ofi*,  as  strangers  and  enemies. "f 
In  another  of  his  workslj:  this  eloquent  father  proves,  at  great 
length,  the  absolute  necessity  of  admitting  tradition  no  less 
than  Scripture  as  the  rule  of  faith,  inasmuch  as  many  important 
points,  which  he  mentions,  cannot  be  proved  without  it. 

I  pass  by  other  shining  lights  of  the  third  century,  such  as 
St.  Clement,  of  Alexandria,  St.  Cyprian,  Origen,  &;c.,  all  of 
whom  place  apostolical  tradition  on  a  level  with  Scripture, 
and  describe  the  church  as  the  expounder  of  them  both.  I  must, 
however,  give  the  following  words  from  the  last-named  great 
biblical  scholar.  He  says  :  "  We  are  not  to  credit  those  who, 
by  citing  real  canonical  Scripture,  seem  to  say,  *  Behold,  the 
word  is  in  your  houses;'  for  we  are  not  to  desert  our  first 
ecclesiastical  tradition,  nor  to  believe  otherwise  than  as  the 
churches  of  God  have,  m  their  perpetual  succession,  delivered 
to  us." 

•  Prrescrip.  Advera.  Hasrea  edit  Rhenan.  pp.  36,  37.  t  Ibid 

X  De  Corona  MiUt 


68  LETTER    X. 

Among  the  numerous  and  illustrious  witnesses  of  the  fourth 
a£?e,  I  shall  be  content  with  citing  St.  Basil  and  St.  Epiphanius. 
The  former  says,  "  There  are  many  doctrines  preserved  and 
preached  in  the  church,  derived,  partly  from  written  documents, 
partly  from  apostolical  tradition,  which  have  equally  the  same 
force  in  religion,  and  which  no  one  contradicts,  who  has  the 
least  knowledge  of  the  Christian  laws."*  The  last  quoted  father 
says,  with  equal  brevity  and  force,  "  We  must  make  use  of  tra- 
dition, for  all  things  are  not  to  be  found  in  Scrip^,:I5J.'')• 

St.  John  Chrysostom  flourished  at  the  beginning  oF  the  fifth 
century ;  and,  though  he  strongly  recommends  the  reading  ot 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  yet  expounding  the  text,  (2  Thess.  ii.  14,) 
he  says :  "  Hence  it  is  plain  that  the  apostles  did  not  deliver 
to  us  every  thing  by  their  epistles,  but  many  things  without 
writing.  These  are  equally  worthy  of  belief.  Hence  let  usi 
regard  the  tradition  of  the  church  as  the  subject  of  our  belief. 
Such  and  such  a  thing  is  a  tradition :  seek  no  further.''^  Ji 
would  fill  a  large  volume  to  transcribe  all  the  passages  which 
occur  in  the  works  of  the  great  St.  Augustin,  in  proof  of  the 
Catholic  rule,  and  the  authority  of  the  church  in  making  use 
of  it :  let,  therefore,  two  or  three  of  them  speak  for  the  rest. 
"  To  attain  to  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures,''  he  says,  "  we  must 
follow  the  sense  of  them  entjrtained  by  the  universal  church, 
to  which  the  Scriptures  themselves  bear  testimony.  True  it  is, 
the  Scriptures  themselves  cannot  deceive  us ;  nevertheless,  to 
prevent  our  being  deceived  in  the  question  we  examine  by 
them,  it  is  necessary  we  should  advise  with  that  church,  which 
these  certainly  and  evidently  point  out  to  us.§  This  (the  un- 
lawfulness of  rebaptizing  heretics)  is  not  evidently  read  either 
by  you  or  by  me  ;  nevertheless,  if  there  were  any  wise  man,  to 
whom  Christ  had  borne  testimony,  and  whom  he  had  appointed 
to  be  consulted  on  the  question,  we  could  not  fail  to  do  so :  now 
Christ  bears  this  testimony  to  his  church.  Whoever,  therefore 
refuses  to  follow  the  practice  of  the  church,  resists  Christ  him- 
s^'lf,  who,  by  his  testimony,  recommends  this  church. "||  Treat- 
ing elsewhere  the  same  subject,  he  says  :  "  The  apostles,  indeed, 
nave  prescribed  nothing  about  this;  but  the  custom  must  be 
considered  as  derived  from  their  tradition,  since  there  are  many 
things  observed  by  the  universal  church,  which  are  justly  held 
to  have  been  appointed  by  the  apostles,  thougn  tney  are  not 
written. "IT  It  seems  do'mg  an  injury  to  St.  Vincent,  of  Lerins, 
who  lived  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  to  quote  a  part  of  his 
celebrated  Commonitorium,  when  the  whole  of  it  is  so  admire  bl, 

•  In  Lib.  de  Spir.  Sane.  t  De  Haeres.  N.  61 

X  IIapado(t$  IvTt,  ftf/ifv  ir\B09  ^^r«i. 

§  L.  i,  contra  Crescon.     ||  Do  Util.  Cred.     ^  De  Bapt.  contra  Donaf.  l 


THE    TRUE    RULE.  60 

calculated  to  refute  the  false  rule  of  heretics,  condemned  m  the 
foregoing  testimonies,  and  to  prove  the  Catholic  rule  here  laid 
down;  still  I  cannot  refrain  from  transcrib-ing  a  small  portion 
of  it.  "  It  is  asked,"  says  this  father,  "  as  the  Scripture  is  per- 
feet,  what  need  is  there  of  the  authority  of  the  church  doctrine  ? 
The  reason  is,  because  the  Scripture,  being  so  profoundly  deep, 
is  not  understood  by  all  persons  in  the  same  sense,  but  different 
persons  explain  it  different  ways ;  so  that  there  are  almost  as 
many  meanings  as  there  are  readers  of  it.  Novatian  interpreta 
it  in  one  sense,  Photinus  in  another,  Arius,  &c.,  in  another. 
Therefore  it  is  requisite  that  the  true  road  of  expounding  the 
prophets  and  apostles  must  be  marked  out  according  to  the  ec- 
clesiastical Catholic  line. 

"  It  never  was,  nor  is,  or  will  be,  lawful  for  Catholic  Chris- 
tians to  teach  any  doctrine  except  that  which  they  once  received  ; 
and  it  ever  was,  and  is,  and  will  be  their  duty  to  condemn  those 
who  do  so.  Do  the  heretics  then  appeal  to  the  Scriptures  ? 
Certainly  they  do,  and  this  with  the  utmost  confidence.  You 
will  see  them  running  hastily  through  the  different  books  of 
Holy  Writ,  those  of  Moses,  Kings,  the  Psalms,  the  Gospels,  &c. 
At  home  and  abroad,  in  their  discourses  and  in  their  writings, 
they  hardly  produce  a  sentence  which  is  not  larded  with  the 
words  of  Scripture,  &;c. ;  but  they  are  so  much  the  more  to  be 
dreaded,  as  they  conceal  themselves  under  the  veil  of  the  divine 
laws.  Let  us,  however,  remember,  that  Satan  transformed 
himself  into  an  angel  of  light.  If  he  could  turn  the  Scriptures 
against  the  Lord  of  Majesty,  what  use  may  he  not  make  of  them 
against  us  poor  mortals  !  If  then  Satan,  and  his  disciples  the 
heretics,  are  capable  of  thus  perverting  Holy  Scripture,  how  are 
Catholics,  the  children  of  the  church,  to  make  use  of  them,  so 
as  to  discern  truth  from  falsehood  ?  They  must  carefully  ob- 
serve the  rule  laid  down  at  the  beginning  of  this  treatise,  by  the 
holy  and  learned  men  I  referred  to :  THEY  ARE  TO  IN- 
TERPRET  THE  DIVINE  TEXT  ACCORDING  TO  THE 
TRADITION  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH."* 

It  would  be  as  easy  to  prove  this  rule  of  faith  from  the  fathers 
of  the  sixth,  as  of  the  former  centuries,  particularly  from  St. 
Gregory  the  Great,  that  holy  pope,  who,  at  the  close  of  this  cen- 
tury, sent  missionaries  from  Rome  to  convert  our  pagan  ances- 
ors.  But,  I  am  sure,  you  will  think  that  sufficient  evidence 
nas  been  brought  to  show  that  the  ancient  fathers  of  the  church, 
rom  the  very  time  of  the  apostles,  held  this  "  whole  rule  of 
faith,"  namely,  the  Word  of  God,  "  unwritten  as  well  as  writ- 

•  Vincent  Lcrins  Commonit.  Advers.  Hner.  edit.  B*.lu2.    An  English  Wexuk 
lation  of  Hu»  little  work  has  lately  been  published. 


70  LETTER    XI. 

ten,"    together   with   "  the   living,    speaking   tribunal   of  the 
church,"  to  preserve  and  interpret  both  the  one  and  the  other 


I  am,  dsc. 


John  Milner. 


LETTER  XL— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ. 

THE  TRUE  RULE. 

«1ear  Sir — 

The  infinite  importance  of  determining  with  ourselves  whicb 
is  the  right  rule  or  method  of  discovering  religious  truth,  must 
be  admitted  by  all  thinking  Christians,  as  it  is  evident  that  this 
rule  alone  can  conduct  them  to  truth,  and  that  a  false  rule  is 
capable  of  conducting  them  into  all  sorts  of  errors.  It  is  equally 
clear  why  all  those,  who  are  bent  upon  deserting  the  Catholic 
Church,  reject  her  rule,  that  of  the  "  whole  word  of  God,"  to- 
gether with  her  "  living  authority"  in  explaining  it :  for,  while 
this  rule  and  this  authority  are  acknowledged,  there  can  be  no 
heresy  nor  schism  among  Christians,  as  whatever  points  of  reli- 
gion are  not  clear  from  Scripture,  are  supplied  and  illustrated 
by  tradition  ;  and  as  the  pastors  of  the  church,  who  possess  this 
authority,  are  always  living,  and  ready  to  declare  what  is  the 
sense  of  Scripture,  and  what  the  tradition,  on  each  contested 
point,  which  they  have  received  in  succession  from  the  apostles, 
the  only  resource,  therefore,  of  persons  resolved  to  follow  their 
own  or  their  forefathers'  particular  opinions  or  practices,  in 
matters  of  religion,  with  the  exception  of  the  enthusiasts,  lias 
ieen  in  all  times,  both  ancient  and  modern,  to  appeal  to  mere 
Scripture,  wJiich,  being  a  dead  letter,  leaves  them  at  liberty  to 
explain  it  as  they  will. 

I.  And  yet,  with  all  their  repugnance  to  tradition  and  church 
authority,  Protestants  have  found  themselves  absolutely  obliged, 
in  many  instances,  to  admit  of  them  both.  It  has  been  demon- 
strated above,  that  they  are  obliged  to  admit  of  tradition,  in  order 
to  admit  of  Scripture  itself.  Without  this,  they  can  neither  know 
thai  there  are  any  writings  at  all  dictated  by  God's  inspiration, 
nor  which,  in  particular,  these  writings  are,*  nor  what  versions 
01  publications  of  them  are  genuine.  But  as  this  matter  has 
been  sufficiently  elucidated,  I  proceed  to  other  points  of  religion, 
which  Protestants  receive,  either  without  the  authority  of  Scrip- 
ture, or  in  opposition  to  the  letter  of  it. 

*  Among  all  the  learned  Protestants  of  this  age,  Dr.  Porteus  is  the  only 
one  who  pictends  to  discern  Scripture,  "  partly  on  account  of  its  own  rea. 
Bonableness,  and  the  characters  of  divine  wisdom  in  it." — Brief  Confut.,  p.  9. 
I  could  have  wished  to  ask  his  lordship,  whether  it  is  by  these  char  icters  tha 
he  has  discovered  the  Canticle  or  Song  of  Solomon  to  be  inspired  Scripture, 


THE    TRUE    RULE.  71 

The  first  precept  in  the  Bible  is  that  of  sanctifying  the  sev- 
enlh  day :  '''  God  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it," 
Gen.  ii.  3.  This  precept  was  confirmed  by  God  in  the  ten 
commandments  :  "  Remember  the  sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy. 
The  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God,"  Exod. 
XX.  On  the  other  hand,  Christ  declares  that  he  is  rot  come  fa 
destroy  the  law,  hit  to  fulfil  it,  Matt.  v.  17.  He  himself  observed 
the  sabbath :  "  And,  as  his  custom  was,  he  went  into  the  syna- 
gogue on  the  sabbath-day,"  Luke  iv.  16.  His  disciples  like- 
wise observed  it  after  his  death :  "  They  rested  on  the  sabbath- 
day,  according  to  the  commandment,"  Luke  xxiii.  56.  Yet 
with  all  this  weight  of  Scripture  authority  for  keeping  the  sab- 
bath or  seventh  day  holy,  Protestants  of  all  denominations  make 
this  a  profane  day,  and  transfer  the  obligation  of  it  to  the  frst 
day  of  the  week,  or  the  Sunday.  Now  what  authority  have  they 
for  doing  this  ?  None  whatever,  except  the  unwritten  word,  or 
tradition,  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which  declares  that  the  apos- 
tles made  the  change  in  honor  of  Christ's  resurrection,  and  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  that  day  of  the  week.  Then,  with 
respect  to  the  manner  of  keeping  that  day  holy,  their  universal 
doctrine  and  practice  are  no  less  at  variance  with  the  sacred 
text.  The  Almighty  says,  "  From  even  unto  even  shall  you 
celebrate  your  sabbath,"  (Levit.  xxiii.  32,)  which  is  the  prac- 
tice  of  the  Jews  down  to  the  present  time,  but  not  of  any  Protes- 
tants that  ever  I  heard  of.  In  like  manner,  it  is  declared  in 
Scripture  to  be  unlawful  to  dress  victuals  on  that  day,  (Exod. 
xvi.  23,)  or  even  to  make  a  fire,  Exod.  xxxv.  3.  Again,  I  ask, 
where  is  there  a  precept  in  the  whole  Scripture  more  express 
than  that  against  eating  blood  ?  '  God  said  to  Noah,  "  Every 
moving  thing  that  liveth  shall  be  meat  to  you  ;  but  flesh  with 
the  life  thereof,  which  is  the  blood  thereof,  shall  you  not  eat,'^ 
Gen.  ix.  4.  This  prohibition  we  know  was  confirmed  by  Moses, 
(Levit.  xvii.  11,  Deut.  xii.  23,)  and  strictly  imposed  by  the 
apostles  upon  the  Gentiles  who  were  converted  to  the  faith.  Acts 
XV.  20.  Nevertheless,  where  is  the  religious  Protestant  who 
scruples  to  eat  gravy  with  his  meat,  or  puddings  made  of  blood  ? 
At  the  same  time,  if  he  be  asked.  Upon  what  authority  do  you 
act  in  contradiction  to  the  express  words  of  both  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testament  ?  he  can  find  no  other  answer  than  that 
he  has  learned,  from  the  tradition  of  the  church,  that  the  proiu- 
bition  was  only  temporary.  I  will  confine  myself  to  one  moie 
instance  of  Protestants  abandoning  their  own  rule,  that  of  Scrip- 
ture alone,  to  follow  ours,  of  Scripture  explained  by  tradition. 
If  an  intelligent  pagan,  who  had  carefully  perused  the  New 
Testament,  were  asked  which  of  the  ordinsnces  mentioned  m  it 
is  most  exrUcitly  and  strictly  enjoined,  I  riake  no  doubt  but  ha 


72  LETTEH    XI. 

would  answer  that  it  is  "  the  washing  of  feet."  To  coiivLioe 
vou  of  this,  be  pleased  to  read  the  first  seventeen  verses  of  Sc. 
John,  c.  xiii.  Observe  the  motive  assigned  for  Christ's  per- 
forming  the  ceremony  there  recorded — namely,  his  "  love  for  his 
disciples :"  next,  the  time  of  his  performing  it — namely,  when 
he  was  about  to  depart  out  of  this  world.  Then  remark  the 
stress  he  lays  upon  it,  in  what  he  said  to  Peter :  "  If  I  wash  thee 
not,  thou  hast  no  part  with  me."  Finally,  his  injunction  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  ceremony,  "  If  I,  your  Lord  and  Master,  have 
washed  your  feet,  ye  also  ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet." 
J  now  ask,  on  what  pretence  can  those  who  profess  to  make 
Scripture  alone  the  rule  of  their  religion  totally  disregard  this 
institution  and  precept  ?  Had  this  ceremony  been  observed  in 
the  church  when  Luther  and  the  other  first  Protestants  begaa 
to  dogmatize,  there  is  no  doubt  but  they  would  have  retaine.l 
it ;  but,  having  learned  from  her  that  it  was  only  figurative, 
they  acquiesced  in  this  decision,  contrary  to  what  appears  to  bo 
the  plain  sense  of  Scripture. 

II.  I  asserted  that  Protestants  find  themselves  obliged  not 
only  to  adopt  the  rule  of  our  church,  on  many  the  most  im- 
portant subjects,  but  also  to  claim  her  authority.  It  is  true, 
as  a  late  dignitary  of  the  establishment  observes,*  that  "  When 
Protestants  first  withdrew  from  the  communion  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  the  princij)les  they  went  upon  were  such  as  these : 
Christ,  by  his  Gospel,  hath  called  all  men  to  the  liberty,  the 
glorious  liberty,  of  the  sons  of  God,  and  restored  them  to  the 
privilege  of  working  out  their  own  salvation  by  their  own  un- 
derstanding and  endeavors.  For  this  work,  sufficient  means 
are  afforded  in  the  Scriptures,  without  having  recourse  to  the 
doctrines  and  commandments  of  men.  Consequently,  faith  and 
conscience,  having  no  dependence  upon  man's  laws,  are  not  to 
be  compelled  by  man's  authority."  What  now  was  the  conse- 
quence of  this  fundamental  rule  of  Protestantism  ?  Why,  that 
endless  variety  of  doctrines,  errors,  and  impieties,  mentioned 
above ;  followed  by  those  tumults,  war»,  rebellions  and  an- 
archy, with  which  the  history  of  every  country  is  filled  that 
embraced  the  new  religion.  It  is  readily  supposed  that  the 
princes  ana  other  rulers  of  those  countries,  ecclesiastical  as 
well  as  civil,  however  hostile  they  might  be  to  the  ancient 
church,  would  wish  to  restrain  these  disorders,  and  make  their 
subjects  adopt  the  same  sentiments  with  themselves.  Hence, 
in  every  Protestant  state,  articles  of  religion,  and  confessions  of 
faith,  differing  from  one  another,  but  each  agreeing  with  the 
opinion  of  the  princes  and  rulers  of  the  state  for  the  time  beings 

•  Archdeacon  Blackburn  in  his  celebrated  Confesaionol,  p.  I 


THE  TRUE  RULE.  78 

irerc  enacted  by  law,  and  enforced  by  excommunication,  de- 
privation, exile,  imprisonment,  torture,  and  death.  These  latter 
punishments  indeed,  however  frequently  they  were  exercised  by 
Protestants  against  Protestants,  as  well  as  against  Catholics, 
during  the  16th  and  17th  centuries,*  have  not  been  resorted  to 
during  the  last  hundred  years  ;  but  the  terrible  sentence  of  ex- 
oommunication,  which  mciudes  outlawry,  even  now  hangs  ovef 
die  head  of  every  Protestant  bishop,  as  well  as  other  clergyman 
in  this  country,f  who  shall  interpret  those  passages  of  the  Gos- 
pel concerning  Jesus  Christ  in  the  sense  which,  it  appears  from 
cheir  writings,  a  number  of  them  entertain  ;  in  the  mean  time 
none  of  them  can  take  possession  of  any  living,  without  sub- 
scribing to  the  39  articles,  and  publicly  declaring  his  unfeigned 
assent  and  consent  to  them,  and  to  every  thing  contained  in  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer.^  Thus,  by  adopting  a  false  rule  of 
religion,  thinking  Protestants  are  reduced  to  the  cruel  extrem- 
ity of  palpably  contradicting  themselves  !  They  cannot  give 
up  "  the  glorious  liberty,"  as  it  is  called  above,  of  explaining 
the  Bible  each  one  for  himself,  without,  at  once,  giving  up  their 
cause  to  the  Catholics  ;  and  they  cannot  adhere  to  it,  without 
many  of  the  above-mentioned  fatal  consequences,  and  without  the 
speedy  dissolution  of  their  respective  churches.  Impatient  of 
the  constraint  they  are  under,  in  being  obliged  to  sign  articles  of 
faith  which  they  do  not  believe,  many  able  clergymen  of  the 
establishment  have  written  strongly  against  them,  and  have 
even  petitioned  Parliament  to  be  relieved  from  the  alleged 
grievance  of  subscribing  to  the  professed  doctrine  of  their  own 
church. §  On  the  other  hand,  the  legislature,  foreseeing  the 
consequences  which  would  result  from  the  removal  of  the  obli- 
gation, have  always  rejected  their  prayer;  and  the  judges  have 
even  refused  to  admit  the  following  salvo  added  to  their  sub-  ' 
scription  :  "  I  assent  and  consent  to  the  articles  and  the  book, 
as  far  as  these  are  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God.^^\\  In  these 
straits,  many  of  the  most  able,  as  well  as  the  most  respectable, 
of  the  established  clergy,  have  been  reduced  to  such  sophistry 
and   ca.3uistry,  as  to  move  the  pity  of  their  very  opponents. 


*  See  the  Letter  on  the  Reformation  and  on  Persecution,  in  Letters  to  a 
trchtndary.  See  also  Neale's  History  of  the  Puritans,  Delai.ne's  Narra- 
tive, Sewell's  History  of  the  Quake-s,  &c. 

t  See  many  excommunicating  Canons,  and  particularly  one  A.  D.  1649 
against  "  the  damnable  and  cursed  heresy  of  Socinianism,"  as  it  is  termed 
in  Bishop  Sparrow's  Collection,  p.  335. 

X  1st  Eliz.  cap.  ii. — 14  Car.  11.  c.  4.     Item.  Canon  3G  et  3b. 

§  There  was  such  a  petition  signed  by  a  great  number  of  dergymea, 
*ud  supported  by  many  others  in  1772. 

U  See  Confessional,  p.  183. 

T 


74  LETTER    XI. 

One  of  these,  the  Norrisian  professor  of  divin'it;  at  Cambridge,* 
as  an  expedient  for  excusing  his  brethren  in  subscribing  t«i 
articles  which  they  do  not  believe,  cites  the  example  of  the 
divines  at  Geneva,  where  he  says,  "a  complete  tacit  refifrma- 
Hon  seems  to  have  taken  place.  The  Genevese  have  now,  ir. 
fact,  quitted  their  Calvinistic  doctrines,  though,  in  form,  they 
retain  them.  When  the  minister  is  admitted,  he  takes  an  oath 
of  assent  to  the  Scriptures,  and  professes  to  teach  them  accord' 
ing  to  the  catechism  of  Calvin  ;  but  this  last  clause  about  Calvin, 
he  maices  a  separate  business  ;  speaking  lower,  or  altering  his 
posture,  or  speaking  after  a  considerable  interval."!  Such  a 
change  of  posture  or  tone  of  voice  in  the  swearer,  our  learned 
professor  considers  as  sufficient  to  excuse  him  from  the  guilt  of 
prevarication,  in  swearing  contrary  to  the  plain  meaning  of  his 
oath !  It  is  not,  however,  intimated  that  the  professor  himself 
has  recourse  to  this  expedient :  his  particular  system  is,  that 
"  the  Church  of  England,  like  that  of  Geneva,  has,  of  late, 
undergone  a  complete  tacit  reformation^ — and  hence  that  the 
sense  of  its  articles  of  faith  is  to  be  determined  by  circum- 
stances. "§  Thus  he  adds  (referring,  I  presume,  to  the  statutes 
of  King's  College,  Cambridge,)  the  oath,  "  I  will  say  so  many 
masses  for  the  soul  of  Henry  VI.,  may  come  to  mean,  I  will 
perform  the  religious  duties  required  of  me  !  "||  The  celebra- 
ted moralist.  Dr.  Paley,  justifies  a  departure  from  the  original 
sense  of  the  articles  of  religion  subscribed,  by  an  INCON- 
VENIENCE "which  is  manifest  and  beyond  all  douUff'^ 
Archdeacon  Powell,  Master  of  St.  John's  College,  defends  the 
English  clergy  from  the  charge  of  subscribing  to  what  they  do 
not  believe  ;  because,  he  says,  "  The  crime  is  impossible  ;  as 
that  cannot  be  the  sense  of  the  declaration  which  no  one  ima- 
gines to  be  its  sense ;  nor  can  that  interpretation  be  erroneous 
which  all  have  received  !"**  And  ye*  such  prelates  as  Seeker, 
Horsley,  Cleaver,  Prettyman,  with  aU  the  iudi^es,  strongly 
maintain  that  the  literal  meaning  of  the  articles  must  be  strictly 
adhered  to ! 

I  could  cite  many  other  dignitaries  or  leadinsj  clergymen  oi 
the  establishment,  and  nearly  the  whole  host  of  dissenters,  wuo 
have  hao  recourse  to  such  quibbles  and  evasions,  in  oraur  to 

•  Lectui«  in  Divinity,  delivered  in  the  Univcri'ity  of  Cambridje,  by  J 
ITey,  D.  D  as  Norrisian  Professor,  1797,  vol.  ii.  p.  57.  t  Ibid. 

J  Ibid,  vol.  ii.  p.  48,  (particularly  in  its  approach  lo  Socmianism,  ^xwi 
^hlch  he  signifies  it  is  divided  only  by  a  few  unmeanirg  words.) 

§  Ibid.  p.  49.  II  P.  62. 

1  Moral  and  Polit.  Philos.  Not  having  this  work  or  Dr.  Pciwell'e  ^t 
mon  on  hand,  I  here  quote  from  Overton's  True  Churchman  p.  337. 

••  Serm.  on  Subscrip. 


THE    TRUE    RULE.  75 

get  ria  of  the  plain  sense  of  the  articles  and  creeds,  to  which 
they  had  solemnly  engaged  themselves  before  their  Creator,  as, 
I  am  convinced,  they  would  not  make  use  of  in  any  contract 
with  a  fellow-creature  :  but  I  hasten  to  take  in  hand  the  ad- 
mired  discourses  of  my  friend.  Dr.  Balguy.  He  was  the 
champion,  the  very  Achilles,  of  those  who  defended  the  sub- 
scription  of  the  39  articles,  against  the  petitioners  for  the  abro- 
gation of  it,  in  1772.  And  how,  think  you,  dear  sir,  did  he 
defend  it  ?  Not  by  vindicating  the  truth  of  the  articles  them- 
selves  ;  much  less  by  any  of  the  quibbles  mentioned  or  alluded 
to  above ;  but  upon  the  principle,  that  an  exterior  show  of  uni- 
formity in  the  ministers  of  religion  is  necessary  for  the  support 
of  it ;  and  that,  therefore,  they  ought  to  subscribe  and  teach  the 
doctrine  prescribed  to  them  by  the  law,  whatever  they  may 
inwardly  think  of  it.  Thus  it  was  that  he,  and  many  of  his 
friends,  imagined  it  possible  to  unite  religious  liberty  with  ec- 
clesiastical restrictions.  But  I  will  give  you  the  archdeacon's 
own  words  in  one  of  his  charges  to  his  clergy.  "  The  articles, 
we  will  say,  are  not  exactly  what  we  7mght  wish  them  to  he. 
Some  of  them  are  expressed  in  doubtful  terms ;  others  are 
inaccurate,  perhaps  unphilosophical ;  others  again  may  chance 
to  mislead  an  ignorant  reader  into  some  erroneous  opinions  ;*  but 
is  there  any  one  among  them  that  leads  to  immorality?  Is  there 
one  in  the  number  that  will  make  us  revengeful  or  cruel  ?" 
&;c.f  On  this  principle,  you  might  in  the  eastern  world,  con- 
scientiously swear  your  assent  and  consent  to  the  fables  of  th^ 
Koran  or  the  Vedam  ! !  But,  to  proceed,  he  says  :  "  Nothing  i^ 
cleaier  than  that  the  uniform  appearance  of  religion  is  the  cause 
of  its  general  and  easy  reception.  Destroy  this  uniformity,  and 
you  cannot  but  introduce  doubt  and  perplexity  into  the  minds  of 
the  people. "t  Again,  he  says:  "I  am  far  from  wishing  to 
discourage  the  clergy  of  the  established  church  from  thinking 
for  themselves,  or  from  speaking  what  they  think,  nor  even  from 
writing.  I  say  nothing  against  the  right  of  private  judgment  or 
spi'ech,  I  only  contend  that  men  ought  not  to  attack  the  church 
from  those  very  pulpiis,  in  which  they  are  placed  for  her  de- 
fe!xe-''§     What  is  this  doctrine  of  the  subscription  champion, 

*  Which  articles  they  are,  that  the  doctor  particularly  objects  to,  we  can 
easily  gather  from  his  general  language  concerning  mysteries,  the  sacra. 
ments,  and  our  redemption  by  Christ.  On  this  last  head,  he  seriously  cau- 
lions  us  against  "  censuring  or  persecuting  our  brethren,  because  their  non 
$ense  and  ours  wears  a  different  dress."     Charge  ii.  p.  192. 

t  Charge  vi.  p.  293.  I  Charge  v.  p.  257. 

§  Disc.  vii.  p,  1'20.  Discourses  by  Thomas  Balguy,  D.  D.,  Archdeacoa 
and  Prebendarv  of  Winchester  &,c.  dedicated  to  the  king.  Lockyer  D». 
vies,  1785. 


▼fl  LETTER    XI. 

dear  sir,  I  appeal  to  you,  but  a  defence  of  the  most  vile  and 
sacrilegious  hypocrisy  that  can  possibly  be  imagined  ?  He 
leaves  the  clergy  at  liberty  to  disbelieve  in,  to  talk,  and  even  to 
write  against  the  doctrine  of  their  church  ;  but  requires  them  in 
the  pu/jnt  to  defend  it!  I  agree  with  him  that  contradictory 
doctrines  publicly  maintained  by  ministers  of  the  same  religion, 
tend  greatly  to  make  the  adherents  of  it  renounce  it  entirely  ; 
hut  will  not  that  effect  more  certainly  follow  from  the  people's 
discovering,  as  they  must,  in  the  case  supposed,  discover,  that 
their  clergy  do  not  themselves  believe  in  the  doctrines  which  they 
preach  ? 

But  this  system  of  deceiving  the  people  is  not  peculiar  to  Dr. 
Balguy  :  it  is  avowed  by  his  friend  and  master.  Bishop  Hoadley, 
and  represented  by  Archdeacon  Blackburn,  from  whom  I  take 
the  following  passage,  as  being  very  generally  adopted.*  "  In 
all  proposals  and  schemes  to  be  reduced  to  practice,"  the  bishop 
says,  "  we  must  suppose  the  world  to  be  what  it  is,  and  not  what 
it  ought  to  be.  We  must  propose,  not  merely  what  is  absolutely 
good  in  itself,  but  what  is  so  with  respect  to  the  prejudices,  tem- 
pers, and  constitutions,  we  know  and  are  sure  to  be  among  us. 
It  is  represented  that  the  world  was  never  less  disposed  to  be 
serious  and  reasonable  than  at  this  period.  Religious  reflection, 
we  are  informed,  is  not  the  humor  of  the  times. — We  are  there- 
fore advised  to  keep  our  prudence  and  our  patience  a  little 
longer ;  to  wait  till  our  people  are  in  a  Detter  temper,  and,  in 
the  mean  time,  to  bear  with  their  manners  and  disposition ; 
gently  and  gradually  correcting  their  foolish  notions  and  habits  ; 
but  still  taking  care  not  to  throw  in  more  light  upon  them,  at  once, 
than  the  weak  optics  of  men,  so  long  used  to  sit  in  darkness,  are 
able  to  bear."  His  lordship's  words  are  guarded,  but  perfectly 
intelligible.  Bishop  Hoadley  had  undermined  the  church  he 
professed  to  support,  in  her  doctrine  and  discipline,  as  has  been 
elsewhere  demonstrated,*)-  and  he  wished  all  the  clergy  to  co- 
operate in  diffusing  his  Socinian  system  ;  but  he  advised  them 
to  attempt  this  "gently  and  gradually,"  bearing  with  the  peo- 
ple's "  foolish  notions,"  and  "  not  throwing  too  much  light  upon 
them  at  once  ;"  in  other  words,  continuing  to  subscribe  the  Ar- 
ticles and  to  preach  them  from  the  pulpit,  being,  at  the  same 
lime,  inwardly  persuaJed  that  they  are  not  only  false,  but  also 
foolish !  I  will  add,  not  only  foolish,  but  also  impious  and  idol- 
ati^Dus,  namely,  by  worshipping  Christ  as  God,  whom  the  sub- 
scriber believes  to  be  merely  man  !  Thus,  dear  sir,  you  have 
«een  the  necessity  to  which  the  difierent  Protestant  societies  hava 


•  Confessional,  pp.  375,  385. 

t  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  Ar'  Hoadleyi 


THE    TRUE    RULE.  T*" 

found  themselves  reduced,  of  occasionally  aj  pealing  to  tradition, 
and  of  assuming  authority  to  dictate  confessions  and  articles  of 
religion,  in  direct  violation  of  their  boasted  charter  of  private 
judgment ;  and  you  have  seen  that  this  inconsistency  has  ren- 
dered "the  remedy  worse  than  the  disease."  These  weapons, 
not  being  natural  to  them,  have  been  turned  against  the-m,  and 
have  mortally  wounded  them  ;  and  the  "  Church  of  England  iy 
particular,"  as  one  of  its  principal  defenders  complains,  "  is  liki 
an  oak,  cleft  to  shivers  with  wedges  made  of  its  own  body."* 
You  will  now  see  with  what  ease  and  success  the  Catholic 
Church  wields  these  weapons  ;  but  first,  I  think  it  best  to  add 
something  by  way  of  confirming  and  elucidating  this  Catholic 
rule. 

III.  What  has  been  said  above  in  proof  of  the  Catholic  i  lie 
namely,  that  Christ  established  it  when  he  sent  his  apostles  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  and  that  the  apostles  followed  it  when  they 
established  churches  throughout  different  nations,  is  so  incontes- 
tible  as  not  to  be  denied  by  any  of  our  learned  opponents  :  still 
less  will  they  deny,  that  the  ancient  fathers,  and  the  doctors  of 
the  church,  in  every  age,  maintained  this  rule.  Accordingly, 
one  of  the  latest  and  most  learned  Protestant  controvertists  writes 
thus  :  "  No  one  will  deny  that  Jesus  Christ  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  church  by  preaching  ;  nor  can  we  deny  that  the  unwritten 
word  was  the  first  rule  of  Christianity  J  ^■\  This  being  granted,  it 
was  incumbent  on  his  lordship  to  demonstrate,  and  this  by  no  les3 
an  authority  than  that  which  established  the  rule,  at  what  precise 
period  it  was  abrogated.  Was  it  when  this  gospel  or  that  gospel, 
when  this  epistle  or  that  epistle  was  written,  though  known  only 
to  particular  congregations  or  persons,  was  it  then  that  the  pas« 
tors  of  the  church  lost  their  authority  of  proclaiming :  "  So  we 
have  received  from  the  apostles,  or  the  disciples  of  the  apostles: 
so  all  the  other  pastors  of  the  Catholic  Church  believe  and 
*each  ?"  Or  was  this  abrogation  of  the  "  first  rule  of  Christiani- 
ty" deferred  till  the  canon  of  Scripture  was  fixed  at  the  end  of 
t'ne  fourth  century  ?  So  far  from  there  being  divine  authority, 
there  is  not  even  a  hint  in  ecclesiastical  history,  on  which  to 
ground  this  pretended  alteration  in  the  rule  of  faith.  His  lord- 
ship's only  foundation  is  his  own  conjecture  ;  "  It  is  extremely 
improhahle^^^  he  says,  "  that  an  all-wise  Providence^  in  imparting 
a  new  revelation  to  mankind,  would  suffer  any  doctrine  or  arti 
cle  of  faith  to  be  transmitted  to  posterity  by  so  precarious  a  ve 
hide  as  that  of  oral  tradition. "J  The  Bishop  of  Londor  j  had 
before  said  nearly  the  same  thing,  as  well  wuh  respect  to  tradi- 

*  Daubeny's  Guide  to  the  Church.     Appen.  t  CorP/>ara*iv^  V^iew 

Bi  the  Churches,  p.  61,  by  Dr.  (now  Bishop;  MareiL  J  Ibid  p  67 

^  Dr.  Porteus,  Brief  Conf. 


T8  LETTER  XI. 

tion  being  the  original  rule,  as  to  the  improhahility  of  its  continu. 
ing  to  be  so,  "  considering,"  as  he  says,  *'  how  liable  the  easiesi 
story,  transmitted  by  word  of  mouth,  is  to  be  essentially  altered 
in  the  course  of  oae  or  two  hundred  years."  But,  to  the  opinions 
of  these  learned  prelates,  I  oppose,  in  the  first  place,  undeniable 
facts.  It  is,  then,  certain,  that  the  whole  doctrine  and  practice 
of  religion,  including  the  rites  of  sacrifice,  and,  indeed,  the 
whole  Sacred  History,  was  preserved  by  the  patriarchs,  in  suc- 
cession from  Adam  down  to  Moses,  during  the  space  of  2,400 
years,  by  means  of  tradition :  and  when  the  law  was  written, 
many  most  important  truths  regarding  a  future  life,  the  em. 
blems  and  prophecies  concerning  the  Messiah,  and  the  inspira- 
tion and  authenticity  of  the  sacred  books  themselves,  were  pre- 
served in  the  same  way.  Secondly,  it  is  unreasonable  in  these 
prelates,  to  compare  the  essential  traditions  of  religion  with  or- 
dinary stories :  in  the  truth  of  these  no  one  has  an  interest,  and 
no  means  have  been  provided  to  preserve  them  from  corruption  ; 
whereas,  with  respect  to  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  the 
church  has  ever  guarded  it  as  "  the  apple  of  her  eye."  All 
ecclesiastical  history  witnesses  the  extreme  care  and  pains 
which,  in  ancient  times,  were  taken  by  the  pastors  to  instruct 
the  faithful  in  the  tenets  and  practices  of  their  religion,  pre- 
viously to  their  being  baptized.*  The  same  are  generally  taken 
by  their  successors,  previously  to  the  confirmation  and  first 
communion  of  their  neophytes,  at  the  present  day.  Thirdly, 
when  any  fresh  controversy  arises  in  the  church,  the  funda- 
mental maxim  of  the  bishops  and  popes,  to  whom  it  belongs  to 
decide  upon  it,  is,  not  to  consult  their  own  private  opinion  or 
interpretation  of  Scripture,  but  to  inquire  "  what  is  and  has 
ever  been  the  doctrine  of  the  church,"  concerning  it.  Hence, 
their  cry  is  and  ever  has  been,  on  such  occasions,  as  well  in 
her  councils  as  out  of  them :  "  So  we  have  received :  so  the 
universal  church  believes  :  let  there  be  no  new  doctrine  ;  none 
but  what  has  been  delivered  down  to  us  by  tradition."! — 
Fourthly,  the  tradition  of  which  we  now  treat,  is  not  a  local  but 
an  universal  tradition,  as  widely  spread  as  the  Catholic  Church 
itself  is,  and  everywhere  found  the  same.  The  maxim  of  the 
sententious  Tertullian  must  be  admitted:  "Error,  of  course, 
varies ;  but  that  doctrine  which  is  one  and  the  same  among 
many,  is  not  an  error  but  a  tradition.":]:  However  liable  men, 
and  particularly  illiterate  men,  are  to  believe  in  fables,  yet  if, 

on  the  discovery  of  America,  the  inhabitants  of  it,  from  Hud. 

/ 

*  See  Fleury's  Mceurs  de  Chrdt.  Hartley  in  B.Watson's  Col  -x).   t.  p.  91 

t  *'  Nil  innovetur  :  nil  nisi  quod  tradituni  est."     Steph.  Popa  ... 

X  "  Variasse  deberet  error,  sed  quod  unum  apud  multos  invemtur,  non  eat 
•natujn,  sed  traditum."     Praescrip.  advers-  Haeret. 


TIF    TRUE    RULE.  T0 

son's  Bay  ^o  Capp  Horn,  had  been  found  to  ag  ce  in  the  sanna 
account  of  their  origin  and  gene^'ai  history,  we  should  cer.ainly 
give  credit  to  them.  But,  fifthly,  in  the  present  case,  they  are 
not  the  Catholics  alone  of  different  ages  and  nations,  who  vouch 
for  the  traditions  in  question — I  mean  those  rejected  by  Pro- 
testants — but  all  the  subsistinjr  heretics  and  schismatics  of  form- 
er ages  without  exception.  The  Nestorians  and  Eutychians,  for 
example,  deserted  the  Catholic  Church,  in  defence  of  opposite 
errors,  near  1,400  years  ago,  and  still  form  regular  churches, 
under  bishops  and  patriarchs,  throughout  the  East :  in  like  man- 
ner the  Greek  schismatics,  properly  so  called,  broke  off  from 
the  Latin  Church,  for  the  last  time,  in  the  eleventh  century. 
Theirs  is  well  known  to  be  the  prevailing  religion  of  Christians 
throughout  the  Turkish  and  Russian  empires.  Nevertheless, 
these  and  all  the  other  Christian  sectaries  of  ancient  dates,  in 
every  article  in  dispute  between  Catholics  and  Protestants,  (ex- 
cept that  concerning  the  pope's  supremacy,)  agree  with  the 
former  and  condemn  the  latter.*  Let  Dr.  Porteus,  and  the  other 
controvertists  who  declaim  against  the  alleged  ignorance  and 
vices  of  the  Catholic  clergy  and  laity,  during  the  five  or  six 
ages  preceding  the  Hcformation,  and  pretend  to  show  how  the 
tenets  which  they  object  to  might  have  been  introduced  into  our 
church,  explain  how  precisely  the  same  could  have  been  quietly 
received  by  the  Nestorians  at  Bagdad,  the  Eutychians  at  Alex- 
andria, and  the  Russian  Greeks  at  Moscow  !  All  these,  and 
particularly  the  last  named,  were  ever  ready  to  find  fault  with 
us  upon  subjects  of  comparatively  small  consequence,  such  as 
the  use  of  unleavened  bread  in  the  sacrament,  the  days  and 
manner  of  our  fasting,  and  even  the  mode  of  shaving  our  beards ; 
and  yet,  so  far  from  objecting  to  the  pretended  novelties  of  pray- 
ers for  the  dead,  addresses  to  the  saints,  the  mass,  the  real  pre- 
sence, &c.,  they  have  always  professed,  and  continue  to  profess, 
these  doctrines  and  practices  as  zealously  as  we  do. 

Finally,  by  way  of  further  answer  to  his  lordship's  shameful 
calumny,  that  the  ancient  "  clergy  and  laity  were  so  universally 
and  monstrously  ignorant  and  vicious,  that  nothing  was  too  bad 
for  them  to  do,  or  too  absurd  for  them  to  believe,"  thereby  in- 
sinuating that  the  former  invented,  and  the  latter  were  duped 
hito,  the  belief  of  the  articles  on  which  the  Catholic  Church 
and  the  Church  of  England  are  divided  ;  as  also  by  way  of  fur- 
iner  confirming  the  certainty  of  tradition,  I  maintain  that  it 
would  have  been  much  easier  for  the  ancient  clergy  to  corrupt 
Iho  Scriptures,  than  the  religious  belief  of  the  people.     For,  it 

«  See  the  proots  of  this  in  the  Perpetuite  de  la  F«i,  copied  ft  im  the  (vigit 
Dal  documents  in  the  French  king's  library. 


SO'  LETTER    XI. 

is  wdl  known  that  the  Scriptures  were  chieily  i?i  the  hand*  of 
the  clergy,  and  that,  before  the  use  of  printing,  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  copies  of  it  were  renewed  and  multiplied  in  the 
monasteries  by  the  labor  of  the  monks,  who,  if  they  had  been 
S'j  wicked,  might,  with  some  prospect  of  success,  have  attempted 
to  alter  the  New  Testament,  in  particular,  as  they  pleased : 
whereas  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  church  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  people  of  all  civilized  nations,  and,  therefore^ 
could  not  be  altered  without  their  knowledge  and  consent, 
Hence,  wherever  religious  novelties  had  been  introduced,  a  vio- 
lent opposition  to  them,  and  of  course,  tumults  and  schisms 
would  have  ensued.  If  they  had  been  generally  received 
in  one  country,  as,  for  example,  in  France,  this  would  have 
been  an  occasion  of  their  being  rejected  with  redoubled  anti 
pathy  in  a  neighboring  hostile  nation,  as,  for  instance,  Eng. 
land.  Yet  none  of  these  disturbances  or  schisms  do  we  read 
of,  respecting  any  of  the  doctrines  or  practices  of  our  religion 
objected  to  by  Protestants,  either  in  the  same  kingdom,  or  among 
the  different  states  of  Christianity.  I  said  that  the  doctrines 
and  practices  of  religion  were  in  the  hands  of  all  "  the  people." 
In  fact,  they  were  all,  in  every  part  of  the  church,  obliged  to 
receive  the  holy  sacrament  at  Easter  ;  now  they  could  not  do 
this  without  knowing  whether  they  had  been  previously  taughl 
to  consider  this  as  bread  and  wine  taken  in  memory  of  Christ,  or 
as  the  real  body  and  Mood  of  Christ  himself.  If  they  had  ori- 
ginally held  the  former  opinion,  could  they  have  been  persuaded 
or  dragooned  into  the  latter,  without  violent  opposition  on  their 
part,  and  violent  persecution  on  that  of  their  clergy?  Again, 
they  could  not  assist  at  the  religious  services  performed  at  the 
funerals  of  their  relations,  or  on  the  festivals  of  the  saints, 
without  recollecting,  whether  they  had  previously  been  in- 
structed to  pray  for  the  former,  and  to  invoke  the  prayers  of  the 
latter.  If  they  had  not  been  so  instructed,  would  they,  one 
and  all,  at  the  same  time,  and  in  every  country,  have  quietly 
yielded  to  the  first  impostors  who  preached  up  such  supposed 
superstitions  to  them  ;  as,  in  this  case,  we  are  sure  they  mufl 
have  done  ?  In  a  word,  there  is  but  one  way  of  accounting  fcf 
the  alleged  alterations  in  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  that  mer- 
lioned  by  the  learned  Dr.  Bailey  ;*  which  is,  to  suppose  that,  on 
some  one  night,  all  the  Christians  of  the  world  went  to  sleep 
sound  Prjtestants,  and  awoke  the  next  morning  rank  Papists  I 

IV.  I  now  come  to  consider  the  benefits  derived  from  the 
Catholic  rule  or  method  of  religion.     The  first  part  of  this  rule 

•  He  was  son  of  the  Bishop  of  Bangor,  and  becoming  a  convert  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  wrote  several  works  in  her  defence  ;  and,  among  the  leat 
one  under  the  title  of  these  letters,  and  another  that  of  ^  ChalUnge, 


THE    TRIE    RULE.  '81 

ooiid  ucts  US  to  the  second  part ;  that  is  to  say,  iraditior.  conducts 
us  to  Scripture.  We  have  seen  that  Protestants,  by  their  own 
confession,  are  obliged  to  build  the  latter  upon  the  former :  in 
doing  which  they  act  most  inconsistently :  whereas  Catholics, 
in  doing  the  same  thing,  act  with  perfect  consistency.  Again, 
Protestants,  in  building  Scripture,  as  they  do,  upon  tradition,  aa 
a  laere  human  testimony,  not  as  a  rule  of  faith,  can  only  fbna 
an  act  of  human  faith,  that  is  to  say,  an  opinion  of  its  bemg  in. 
spired;*  whereas  Catholics,  believing  in  the  tradition  of  the 
cnurch,  as  a  divine  rule,  are  enabled  to  believe  in  the  Scrip- 
tures with  a  firm  faith,  as  the  certain  word  of  God.  Hence  the 
Catholic  Church  requires  her  pastors,  who  are  to  preach  and 
expound  the  word  of  God,  to  study  this  second  part  of  her  rule, 
no  less  than  the  first  part,  with  unremitting  diligence  ;  and  she 
encourages  those  of  her  flock,  who  are  properly  qualified  and 
disposed,  to  read  it  for  their  edification. 

In  perusing  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  some  of  the 
most  striking  passages  are  those  which  regard  the  prerogatives 
of  the  future  kingdom  of  the  Messiah ;  namely,  the  extent,  the 
visibility,  and  indefectibility  of  the  church  :  in  examining  the 
New  Testament,  we  find  in  several  of  its  clearest  passages,  the 
strongest  proofs  of  its  being  an  infallihle  guide  in  the  way  of 
salvation.  The  texts  alluded  to  have  been  already  cited. 
Hence  we  look  upon  the  church  with  increased  veneration,  and 
listen  to  her  decisions  with  redoubled  confidence.  But  here  I 
think  it  necessary  to  refute  an  objection,  which,  I  believe,  was 
first  started  by  Dr.  Still ingfleet,  and  has  since  been  adopted  by 
many  other  controvertists.  They  say  to  us,  you  argue  in,  what 
logicians  call,  a  vicious  circle  :  for  you  prove  Scripture  hy  your 
church,  and  then  your  church  hy  Scripture. -\     This  is  like  John 

*  Chillingworth  in  his  Religion  of  Protestants,  chap,  ii.,  expressly  teaches, 
that "  The  books  of  Scripture  are  not  the  objects  of  our  faith,"  and  that  "  a 
man  may  be  saved,  who  should  not  believe  them  to  be  the  vv^ord  of  God  " 

t  Certain  respectable  persons  having  expressed  a  wish  that  the  writer 
had  given  a  more  detailed  answer  to  the  vulgar  objections,  that  Catholics 
argue  in,  what  logicians  call  a  circulus  vitiosus,  by  proving  the  church 
from  the  Scripture,  and  the  Scripture  frorn  the  church;  he  here  adds  tlia 

following  analysis,  or  explanation  of  his  faith. 1  believe  the  Catholic 

Church,  and  therefore  every  thing  which  she  teaches,  upon  the  motives  jf 

eredibilily,  namely,  her  unity,  sanctity,  &c.  which  accompany  her. Now, 

among  other  things  which  she  teaches  me,  is  this,  that  a  certain  book,  which 
she  has  always  carefully  kept  in  her  possession,  called  the  Scriptures^  is  the 

inspired  word  of  God. Examining  this  book,  among  n  any  things  hard  to 

be  understood,  I  find  several  things  very  easy  and  clear,  particularly  thoae 
which  regard  the  church  herself;  namely,  that  she  is  founded  on  a  rock^ 
against  which  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail;  thit  Christ  will  remain 
with  her  for  ever;  and  that  his  Holy  Spirit  shall  teach  her  all  truth, 
finally,  tk«t  she  i«  the  pillar  and  foundation  of  truth.     TUese  divine  tesQ 


82  LETTER   XI. 

giving  a  character  /p  Thomas,  and  Thomas  a  character  to  John 
— True  it  is,  that  I  prove  the  inspiration  of  Scripture  by  the 
tradition  of  the  church,  and  that  I  prove  the  infalUhility  of  the 
church  by  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  which  are  two  distinct 
things;  but  you  must  take  notice,  that  independently  of,  and 
piior  to,  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  I  knew  from  tradition,  and 
the  general  arguments  of  the  credibility  of  Christiajiity,  that 
the  church  is  an  illustrious  society,  instituted  by  Christ,  and 
that  its  pastors  have  been  appointed  by  him  to  guide  me  in  the 
way  of  salvation.  In  a  word,  it  is  not  every  kind  of  mutual 
testimony  which  runs  in  a  vicious  circle  :  for  the  Baptist  bore 
testimony  to  Christ,  and  Christ  bore  testimony  to  the  Baptist. 

V.  The  advantage,  and  even  necessity,  of  having  a  living, 
speaking  authority  for  preserving  peace  and  order  in  every  so- 
ciety, is  too  obvious  to  be  called  in  question.  The  Catholic 
Church  has  such  an  authority  ;  the  different  societies  of  Protest- 
ants, though  they  claim  it,  cannot  effectually  exercise  it,  as  we 
have  shown,  on  account  of  their  opposite  fundamental  principle 
of  private  judgment.  Hence,  when  debates  arise  among  Catho- 
lics concerning  points  of  faith,  (for  as  to  scholastic  and  other 
questions,  each  one  is  left  to  defend  his  own  opinion,)  the 
pastors  of  the  church,  like  judges  in  regard  of  civil  con- 
tentions,  fail  not  to  examine  them  by  the  received  rule  of 
faith,  and  to  pronounce  an  authoritative  sentence  upon  them. 
The  dispute  is  thus  quashed,  and  peace  is  restored:  for  "if 
any  party  will  not  hear  the  church,  he  is,"  of  course,  regarded 
as  "a  heathen  and  a  publican."  On  the  other  hand,  dissen- 
sions in  any  Protestant  society,  which  adheres  to  its  fundamen- 
tal rule  of  religious  liberty,  must  be  irremediable  and  endless. 

VI.  The    same  method  which  God  has  appointed  to  keep 

monies  confirm  and  increase  my  veneration  for,  and  my  confidence  in  the 
church,  which  church,  however,  I  had  learnt  to  revere  and  beUeve,  before  I 

opened  the  Scriptures. Thus  the   phantom  of  a    circulM  vitiosusy  in 

which  two  unproved  things  are  adduced  to  prove  each  other,  which  Protest, 
ants  have  conjured  up  against  the  faith  of  Caihohcs,  quite  disappears. — To 
elucidate  this  matter  more  clearly,  I  will  suppose  myself  to  Hve  in  a  remote 
part  of  the  island,  where  a  personage,  with  all  the  insignia  and  other  moral  ev 
dence  of  his  being  the  King's  delegate,  presents  himself  to  me  and  delivetjj 
me  a  letter,  which  he  assures  me  was  written  to  me  by  his  majesty.  My 
first  care,  in  common  prudence,  is  to  ascertain  the  character  and  credibihty 
of  the  messenger.  These  being  made  out  to  my  entire  satisfaction,  I  open 
the  royal  letter,  in  which,  among  other  things,  I  read  as  follows  :  *'  The 
bearer  of  this  letter  is  fully  informed  of  our  royal  meaning  and  will,  as  to  the 
contents  of  it,  and  of  every  thing  relating  to  your  duty  and  our  service  :  you 
will  therefore  gi^^e  the  same  credit  to  his  declarations,  as  if  they  were  per 
Bonally  given  you  by  ourselves."  Hav#ig  perused  this  passage  of  the  letter 
my  respect  for  the  messenger  cannot  but  increase,  though,  at  first,  I  believed 
't  to  come  from  the  king  upon  his  testimony 


THE  TRUE  RULE.  83 

p'-ace  in  his  church,  he  has  also  appointtd  tc  p  'eserve  it  in  the 
breasts  of  her  several  children.  Hence,  ^vhile  other  Christians, 
who  have  no  rule  of  faith  but  their  own  fluctuating  opinions 
"  are  carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine,"  and  are  agitator 
by  dreadful  doubts  and  fears,  as  to  the  safety  of  the  road  they 
are  in  ;  Catholics,  being  moored  to  the  rock  of  Christ's  churcli, 
n9\er  experience  any  apprehension  whatsoever  on  this  head 
The  truth  of  this  may  be  ascertained  by  questioning  pious 
Catholics,  and  particularly  those  who  have  been  seriously  con- 
verted  from  any  species  of  Protestantism.  Such  persons  are 
gensrally  found  to  speak  in  raptures  of  the  peace  and  security 
tney  enjoy  in  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  Church,  compared 
with  their  doubts  and  fears  before  they  embraced  it.  Still  the 
death-bed  is  evidently  the  best  situation  for  making  this  inquiry, 
[  have  mentioned,  in  my  former  letter,  that  great  numbers  of  Pro- 
testants, at  the  approach  of  death,  seek  to  be  reconciled  to  the 
Catholic  Church.  Many  instances  of  this  are  notorious,  though 
many  more,  for  obvious  reasons,  are  concealed  from  public  no- 
tice. On  the  other  hand,  a  challenge  has  been  frequently 
made  by  Catholics  (among  the  rest  by  Sir  Toby  Matthews, 
Dean  Cressy,  F.  Walsingham,  Molines  dit  Flechiere,  and  Ulric, 
Duke  of  Brunswick,  all  of  them  converts)  to  the  whole  world, 
to  name  a  single  Catholic,  who,  at  the  hour  of  death,  expressed 
a  wish  to  die  in  any  other  communion  than  his  own! 

I  have  now,  dear  sir,  fully  proved  what  I  undertook  to  prove 
— that  the  rule  of  faith  professed  by  rational  Protestants,  that 
of  "Scripture  as  interpreted  by  each  person's  private  judg- 
ment," is  no  less  fallacious  than  the  rule  of  fanatics,  who  im- 
agine themselves  to  be  directed  by  an  individual,  private  inspi- 
ration. I  have  shown  that  this  rule  is  evidently  unserviceable 
to  infinitely  the  greater  part  of  mankind  ;  that  it  is  liable  to 
lead  men  into  error,  and  that  it  has  actually  led  vast  numbers 
of  them  into  endless  errors  and  shocking  impieties.  The  proof 
of  these  points  was  sufHcient,  according  to  the  principles  I  laid 
down  at  the  beginning  of  our  controversy,  to  disprove  the  rule 
itself;  but  I  have,  moreover,  demonstrated  that  our  Divine  Mas- 
ter Christ,  did  not  establish  this  rule,  nor  his  apostles  follow  it ; 
tha.  tJie  Protestant  churches,  and  that  of  England  in  particular 
were  not  founded  according  to  this  rule  ;  that  individual  Protest* 
ants  have  not  been  guided  by  it  in  the  choice  of  their  religion  j 
and,  finally,  that  the  adoption  of  it  leads  to  uncertainty  and  un» 
easiness  of  mind  in  life,  and  more  particularly  at  the  hour  of 
death.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  shown  that  the  Catholic  rule, 
that  of  the  entire  word  of  God,  unwritten  as  well  as  written, 
together  with  the  authority  of  the  living  j>astors  of  the  church 
ill  explaining  it,  was  appointed  by  Christ;  was  followed  by  the 


84  LETTER    XII. 

apostles ;  was  maintained  by  the  holy  fathers ;  lias  been  re 
sorted  to  from  necessity,  in  both  partici  lars,  by  the  Protestani 
congregations,  though  with  the  worst  success,  from  the  impos- 
sibility of  uniting  private  judgment  with  it;  that  tradition  lays 
a  firn-  ground  ior  divine  faith  in  Scripture  ;  that  these  two 
united  .ogether  as  one  rule,  and  each  bearing  testimony  to  the 
living,  spi^aking  authority  of  the  church  in  expounding  that  rule^ 
tijis  churoh  is  preserved  in  peace  and  union  through  all  ages 
and  na'ions  ;*  and,  in  short,  that  Catholics,  by  adhering  to  this 
rule  und  authority,  live  and  die  in  peace  and  security,  as  far  as 
regards  the  truth  of  their  religion. 

It  remains  for  you,  dear  sir,  and  your  religious  friends,  who 
have  called  me  into  the  field  of  controversy,  to  determine  which 
of  the  two  methods  you  will  follow,  in  settlinor  your  religious 
concerns  for  time  and  FOR  ETERNITY  !  Were  it  possible 
for  me  to  err  in  following  the  Catholic  method,  with  such  a  mass 
of  evidence  in  its  favor,  methinks  I  could  answer  at  the  judg. 
ment-seat  of  Eternal  Truth,  with  a  pious  writer  of  the  middle 
ages :  "  Lord,  if  I  have  been  deceived,  thou  art  the  author  of 
my  error. "f  Whereas,  should  you  be  found  to  have  mis. 
taken  the  right  way,  by  depending  upon  your  own  private  opin- 
ion,  contrary  to  the  directions  of  your  authorized  guides,  what 
would  you  be  able  to  allege  in  excuse  for  such  presumption  ? 
Think  of  this  while  you  have  time,  and  pray  humbly  and  earn 
estly  for  God's  holy  grace  to  enlighten  and  strengthen  you. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  dz;c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XIL— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.  &c 

OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 
Dear  sir — 

I  AM  not  forgetful  of  the  promise  I  made  in  my  last  letter  hi:! 
one,  to  answer  the  contents  of  those  which  I  had  .hen  received 
from  yourself,  Mr.  Topham,  and  Mr.  Askew.  Within  these 
few  lays  I  have  received  other  letters  froi.i  yourself  and  Mr. 
Topham,  which,  equally  with  the  former,  call  for  my  attention. 
Hdwever,  as  it  would  take  up  a  great  deal  of  time  to  write  sepa- 
rate answers  to  each  of  these  letters,  and,  as  I  know  that  they 
are  arguments  and  not  formalities  which  you  expe{  I  from  me, 
I  shall  make  this  letter  a  general  reply  to  the  several  objections 
contained  in  them  all,  with  the  exception  of  such  as  have  been 
answered  in  my  last  to  you.  Conceiving,  also,  that  it  will  con- 
tribute to  the  brevity  and  perspicuity  of  my  letter,  if  I  arrange 

•  *  DomiciHiuin  pacis  et  unitatis." — S.  Cyp.  Ep.  46.        t  Hugh  of  St.  V/ctor 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  86 

the  several  objections,  from  whomsoever  they  came,  i  nder  thoii 
proper  heads,  and  if,  on  this  occasion,  I  make  use  oi  the  scho- 
lastic instead  of  the  epistolary  style,  I  shall  adopi  both  these 
methods.  I  must,  however,  remark,  before  I  enter  upon  )ny 
.ask,  that  most  of  the  objections  appear  to  have  been  borrowed 
from  the  Bishop  of  London's  book,  called  a  Brief  Confutation  of 
the  Errors  of  Popery,  This  was  extracted  from  Archlishop 
Seeker's  Sermons  on  the  same  subject,  which,  themselves,  were 
culled  out  of  his  predecessor  Tillotson's  pulpit  controversy. 
Hence  you  may  justly  consider  your  arguments  as  the  strongest 
which  can  be  brought  against  the  Catholic  rule  and  religion. 
Under  this  persuasion,  the  work  in  question  has  been  selected 
for  gratuitous  distribution  by  your  tract  societies,  wherever  they 
particularly  wish  to  restrain  or  suppress  Catholicity. 

Against  the  Catholic  rule  it  is  objected,  that  Christ  referred 
the  Jews  to  the  Scriptures :  "  Search  the  Scriptures ;  for  In 
them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life :  and  they  are  they  which 
testify  of  me,"  John,  v.  35.  Again,  the  Jews  of  Berea  are  com- 
mended  by  the  sacred  penman,  "  in  that  they  search  the  Scrip- 
tures daily,  whether  these  things  were  so,"  Acts,  xvii.  11. 

Before  I  enter  on  the  discussion  of  any  part  of  Scripture,  with 
you  or  your  friends,  I  am  bound,  dear  sir,  in  conformity  with 
my  rule  of  faith,  as  explained  by  the  fathers,  and  particularly  by 
Tertullian,  to  protest  against  your  and  their  right  to  argue  from 
Scripture,  and,  of  course,  must  deny  that  there  is  any  necessity 
of  my  replying  to  any  objections  which  you  may  draw  from  it. 
For  I  have  reminded  you  that  no  prophecy  of  Scripture  is  of  any 
private  interpretat'on  ;  and  I  have  proved  to  you  that  the  whole 
business  of  the  Scriptures  belongs  to  the  church.  She  has  pre- 
served them,  she  vouches  for  them,  and  she  alone,  by  confront- 
ing the  several  passages  with  each  other,  and  with  tradition, 
authoritatively  explains  them.  Hence  it  is  impossible  that  the 
real  sense  of  Scripture  should  ever  be  against  l^r  and  her  doc- 
trine ;  and  hence,  of  course,  I  might  quash  every  objection 
which  you  can  draw  froAi  any  passage  in  it  by  this  short  reply  : 
The  church  understands  the  passage  differently  from  you  :  there- 
fore you  mistake  its  meaning.  Nevertheless,  as  charity  heareth 
all  things  and  never  faileth,  I  will,  for  the  better  satisfying  of 
you  and  your  friends,  quit  my  vantage  ground  for  the  present, 
and  answer  distinctly  to  every  text,  not  yet  answered  by  me, 
which  any  of  your  gentlemen,  or  which  Dr.  Porteus  himself, 
has  brought  against  the  Catholic  rule  or  method  of  religion. 

By  way  of  answering  your  first  objection,  let  me  ask  you, 
whether  Christ,  by  telling  the  Jews  to  "  search  the  Scriptures," 
intimated  that  they  were  not  to  believe  in  his  unwritten  word, 
which  he  was  then  preaching,  nor  to  hear  "  his  apostJes  and 

8 


86  LETTER    XII. 

tlieir  Fiiccessors,"  with  whom  he  promised  "  to  remain  for  evei  ?* 
I  ask,  secondly,  on  what  particular  question  Christ  referred  t« 
the  Sc:ripture — namely,  the  Old  Scripture,  for  no  part  of  the 
New  was  then  written  ?  Was  it  on  any  question  that  has  been 
or  might  be  agitated  among  Christians  ?  No,  certainly.  The 
sole  question  between  him  and  the  infidel  Jews  was,  whether  he 
was  or  was  not  the  Messiah.  In  proof  that  he  was  the  Messiah, 
he  adduced  the  ordinary  motives  of  credibility,  as  they  have  been 
detailed  by  your  late  worthy  rector,  Mr.  Carey,  namely,  the 
miracles  ne  wrought,  and  the  prophecies  in  the  Old  Testament 
that  were  fulfilled  in  him,  as  likewise  the  testimony  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist.  The  same  is  to  be  said  of  the  commendations  be. 
stowed  by  St.  Luke  on  the  Bereans.  They  searched  the  an- 
cient prophecies,  to  verify  that  the  Messiah  was  to  be  born  at 
such  a  time  and  in  such  a  place,  and  that  his  life  and  his  death 
were  to  be  marked  by  such  and  such  circumstances.  We  still 
refer  Jews  and  other  infidels  to  the  same  proofs  of  Christianity, 
without  saying  any  thing  yet  to  them  about  our  rule  of  faith  or 
judge  of  controversies. 

Dr.  Porteus  objects  what  St.  Luke  says  at  the  beginning  of 
his  gospel :  "  It  seemed  good  to  me  also,  having  had  perfect  un- 
derstanding of  all  things  from  the  very  first,  to  write  unto  thee, 
in  order,  most  excellent  Theophilus,  that  thou  mightest  know 
the  certainty  of  those  things  wherein  thou  hast  been  instructed." 
Again,  St.  John  says,  c.  xx. :  "  These  things  are  written  that 
ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  and 
that  believing,  ye  might  have  life  through  his  name." 

Answer.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  his  lordship  can 
draw  an  argument  from  these  texts  against  the  Catholic  rule. 
Surely  he  does  not  gather  from  the  words  of  St.  Luke,  that 
Theophilus  did  not  believe  the  articles  in  which  he  had  been  in- 
structed by  word  of  mouth  till  he  read  his  gospel !  or  that  tlw 
evangelist  gainsayed  the  authority  given  by  Christ  to  his  disci- 
ples :  "  He  that  heareth  you  heareth  me,"  which  he  himself 
records,  Luke,  x.  16.  In  like  manner  the  prelate  cannot  sup- 
pose, that  this  testimony  of  St.  John  sets  aside  other  testimo- 
nies of  Christ's  divinity,  or  that  our  belief  in  this  single  article, 
withou/  other  conditions,  will  ensure  eternal  life. 

Having  quoted  these  texts,  which  to  me  appear  so  inconclu- 
sive, the  bishop  adds,  by  way  of  proving  that  Scripture  is  suffi- 
ciently intelligible  :  "  Surely  the  apostles  were  not  worse  wri- 
ters, with  divine  assistance,  than  others  commonly  are  without  ii.'' 

I  will  not  here  repeat  the  arguments  and  testimonies  already 
brought  to  show  the  great  obscurity  of  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  Bible,  particularly  with  respect  to  the  bulk  of  mankind  ; 
because  it  is  sufficient  to  refer  to  the  clear  words  of  St.  P«>t«r 


OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED.  87 

declaring  that  thtre  are  in  the  epistles  of  St.  PauI.  "Some 
things  hard  to  be  understood,  which  the  unlearned  and  unstable 
wrest,  as  they  do  all  the  other  Scriptures,  unto  their  own  de- 
struction," (2  Peter,  iii.  16,)  and  to  the  instances  which  occur  in 
the  gospels,  of  the  very  apostles  frequently  misunderstanding 
the  meaning  of  their  Divine  Master. 

The  learned  prelate  says  elsewhere :  "  The  New  Testament 
supposes  them  (the  generality  of  people)  capable  of  judging  for 
themselves,  and,  accordingly,  requires  them  not  only,  to  try  the 
tjnJtts  whether  they  be  of  God,  (1  John,  iv.  1,)  but  to  prove  all 
things,  and  holdfast  that  which  is  good."  1  Thess.  v.  21. 

Answer.  True,  St.  John  tells  the  Christians,  to  whom  he 
writes,  to  "  try  the  spirits  whether  they  are  of  God  :  because," 
he  adds,  "  many  false  prophets  are  gone  out  into  the  world  :  " 
but  then  he  gives  them  two  rules  for  making  trial :  "  Hereby  ye 
know  the  Spirit  of  God.  Every  Spirit  that  confesseth  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  is  of  God.  And  every  spirit 
that  confesseth  not  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  (which 
was  denied  by  the  heretics  of  that  time,  the  disciples  of  Simon 
and  Cerinthus)  is  not  of  God."  In  this  the  apostle  tells  the 
Christian,  to  see  whether  the  doctrine  of  these  spirits  was,  or 
was  not,  "  conformable  to  that  which  they  had  learned  from  the 
church."  The  second  rule  was :  "  He  that  knoweth  God  hear- 
eth  us ;  he  that  is  not  of  God  heareth  not  us.  Hereby  know 
we  the  spirit  of  truth  and  the  spirit  of  error  :  "  namely,  he  bids 
them  observe  whether  these  teachers  did  or  did  not  listen  to  the 
divinely  constituted  pastors  of  the  church.  Dr.  Porteus  is  evi- 
dently here  quoting  Scripture  for  our  rule,  not  against  it.  The 
same  is  to  be  said  of  the  other  text.  Prophecy  was  exceeding- 
ly common  at  the  beginning  of  the  church  :  but,  as  we  have  just 
seen,  there  were  false  prophets,  as  well  as  true  prophets 
Hence,  while  the  apostle  defends  this  supernatural  gift  in  gene 
ral,  "  Despise  not  prophesyings,"  he  admonishes  the  Thessa- 
lonians  to  prove  them  ;  not  certainly  by  their  private  opinions 
which  would  be  the  source  of  endless  discord ;  but  by  the  es' 
tablished  rules  of  the  church,  and,  particularly,  by  that  which 
he  tells  them  "to  hold  fast,"  (2  Thess.  ii.  15,)  namely,  tradition 

Dr.  P.,  in  another  place,  urges  the  exhortation  of  St.  Paul  to 
Timothy:  "Continue  thou  in  the  things  which  thou  hast  learn- 
ed and  hast  been  assured  of,  knowing  oi''  whom  thou  hast 
learned  them :  ar^d  that  from  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  which  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  to  salvation, 
through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  All  Scripturri  is  given  by  ins  pi- 
ration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine  for  reproof,"  &c. 
2  Tim.  iii. 

Answer.     Does,  then,  the  prelate  m«an  to  say,  that  the  fonn. 


89  ^ETTER    XI.. 

of  sound  words  which  Timothy  had  hea.xJ  from  St.  Paul,  and 
which  he  was  commanded  to  hold  fast,  i]  Tim.  i.  13,  was  all 
contained  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  only  Scripture  which  he 
could  have  read  in  his  childhood  ?  Or  that,  in  this  he  could 
have  learned  the  mysteries  of  the  trinity  and  the  incarnation,  or 
the  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  eucharist  ?  The  first  part 
of  the  question  is  a  general  commendation  of  tradition,  the  lat- 
ter of  Scripture. 

Against  tradition,  Dr.  P.  and  yourself  quote  Mark  vii.,  where 
the  Pharisees  and  scribes  asked  Christ :  "  Why  walk  not  thy 
disciples  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  elders,  but  eat  bread 
with  unwashed  hands  ?  He  answered  and  said  to  them :  in 
vain  do  they  worship  me,  teaching  FOR*  doctrines  the  com- 
mandments of  men.  For,  laying  aside  the  commandment  of 
God,  ye  hold  the  tradition  of  men,  as  the  washing  of  pots:^nd 
cups,"  &c. 

Answer.  Among  the  traditions  which  prevailed  at  the  time 
of  our  Saviour,  som.e  were  divine,  such  as  the  inspiration  of  the 
books  of  Moses  and  the  other  prophets,  the  resurrection  of  the 
body,  and  the  last  judgment,  which  assuredly  Christ  did  not 
condemn  but  confirm.  There  were  others  merely  humarij 
and  of  a  recent  date,  introduced,  as  St.  Jerom  informs  us,  by 
Sammai,  Killel,  Achiba,  and  other  Pharisees,  from  which 
the  Talmud  is  chiefly  gathered.  These,  of  course,  were  never 
obligatory.  In  like  manner  there  are  among  Catholics  "divine 
traditions,"  such  as  the  inspiration  of  the  gospels,  the  observa- 
tion of  the  Lord's  day,  the  lawfulness  of  invoking  the  prayers  oi 
the  ejaints,  and  other  things  not  clearly  contained  in  Scripture : 
and  there  are,  among  many  Catholics,  historical  and  even  fabu- 
lous traditions.!  Now  it  is  to  the  former,  as  avowed  to  be  di- 
vine by  the  church,  that  we  appeal  •  of  the  others  every  one 
may  judge  as  he  thinks  best. 

You  both,  likewise,  quote  Coloss.  ii.  8,  "  Beware  lest  any 
man  spoil  (cheat)  you  through  philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after 
the  tradition  of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not 
after  Christ  " 

Answer.  The  apostle  himself  informs  the  Colossians  what 
kind  of  traditions  he  here  speaks  of,  where  he  says  :  "  Let  no 
man  therefore  judge  you  in  meat  or  drink,  or  in  respect  of  any 
holiday,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  sabbath  days."     The 

*  This  particle  FOR,  which  in  some  degree  affects  the  sense,  is  a  corrup 
interpolation,  as  appears  from  the  original  Greek.  N.  B.  The  texts  which 
Dr.  P.  refers  to,  I  quote  from  the  common  Bible  :  his  citations  of  it  are  fre 
quently  inaccurate. 

t  Such  are  the  acts  tf  several  saints  condemred  by  Pope  GeJasius:  sucll 
*1ro  was  the  opinion  of  Christ's  reign  upon  earth  for  «  thcusand  years. 


ioAj&CnOVii    ANSWERED.  89 

ancient  fathers  and  ecclesiastical  historians  inform  us  tnat,  in 
the  age  of  the  apostles,  many  Jews  and  pagan  philosophers  pro 
fessed  Christianity,  but  endeavored  to  ally  with  it  their  respec- 
tive superstitions,  and  vain  speculations,  absolutely  inconsistent 
with  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel.  It  was  against  these  St.  Paul 
wrote ;  not  against  those  traditions  which  he  commanded  his 
converts  to  hold  fast  to,  whether  they  had  been  taught  hy  word  or 
or  by  epistle^  2  Thess.  ii.  15 ;  nor  against  those  traditions 
which  he  commended  his  other  converts  for  keeping,  1  Cor.  xi. 
2.*  Finally,  the  apostle  in  that  passage  did  not  abrogate  this 
his  awful  sentence  :  "  Now  we  command  you,  brethren,  in  the 
name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  withdraw  yourselves 
from  every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly,  and  not  after  the 
tradition  which  he  received  of  us."  2  Thess.  iii.  6. 

Against  the  infallibility  of  the  church  in  deciding  questions 
of  faith,  I  am  referred  to  various  other  arguments  made  use  of 
by  Dr.  Porteus ;  and,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  following :  "  Ro- 
manists themselves  own  that  men  must  use  their  eyes  to  find 
this  guide ;  why  then  must  they  put  them  out  to  follow  him  ?  " 
I  answer  by  the  following  comparisons.  Every  prudent  man 
makes  use  of  his  reason  to  find  out  an  able  physician  to  take 
care  of  his  health,  and  an  able  lawyer  to  secure  his  property ; 
but  having  found  these  to  his  full  satisfaction,  does  he  dispute 
with  the  former  about  the  quality  of  medicines,  or  with  the 
latter  about  forms  of  law  ?  Thus  the  Catholic  makes  use  of 
his  reason  to  observe  which,  among  the  rival  communions,  is 
the  church  that  Christ  established  and  promised  to  remain  with : 
having  ascertained  that,  by  the  plain  acknowledged  marks 
which  this  church  bears,  he  trusts  his  soul  to  her  unerring 
judgment,  in  preference  to  his  own  fluctuating  opinion. 

Dr.  Porteus  adds:  "Ninety-nine  parts  in  every  hundred  of 
their  (the  Catholic)  communion,  have  no  other  rule  to  follow 
but  what  a  few  priests  and  private  writers  tell  them."  Ac- 
cording to  this  mode  of  reasoning,  a  loyal  subject  does  not 
make  any  act  of  the  legislature  the  rule  of  his  civil  conduct, 
because,  perhaps,  he  learns  it  only  from  a  printed  paper,  or  the 
proclamation  of  the  boll-man.  Most  likely  the  Catholic  peasant 
learns  the  doctrine  of  the  church  from  his  parish  priest ;  but 
then  he  knows  that  the  doctrine  of  this  priest  must  be  conform- 
able  to  that  of  his  bishop,  and  that  otherwise  he  will  soon  be 
called  to  an  account  for  it ;  he  knows  also  that  the  doctrine  of 
the  bishop  himself  must  be  conformable  to  that  of  the  other 
bishops  and  the  pope ;  and  that  it  is  a  fundamental  maxim  wi'Ji 

•  The  English  Testament  puts  tlie  word  ordinances  here  for  tradition*, 
contrary  to  the  sense  of  the  origiaal  (ireek,  and  even  to  the  authority  of  Beza 

8* 


90  LITTER   Xn. 

them  all,  never  to  admit  of  any  tenet,  but  such  as  is  believed 
by  all  the  bishops,  and  was  believed  by  their  predecessors  up 
to  the  apostles  themselves. 

The  prelate  gives  a  "  rule  for  the  unlearned  and  ignorant  in 
religion,  (that  is  to  say  of  ninety-nine  in  every  hundred  of  them,) 
which  is  this :  Let  each  man  improve  his  own  judgment  and 
increase  his  own  knowledge  as  much  as  he  can  ;  and  be  fully 
assured  that  God  will  expect  no  more."  What  ?  If  Chnst 
has  given  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets,  and  some  evangelists^ 
and  some  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the  perfecting  the  saints,  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  Ephes.  iv.  11,  does  he  not  expect  that 
Christians  should  hearken  to  them,  and  obey  them  ?  The  pre- 
late goes  on :  "  In  matters, /or  which  he  must  rely  on  authority,''* 
(mere  Scripture  then  and  private  judgment,  according  to  the 
bishop  himself,  are  not  always  a  sufficient  rule  even  for  Pro^ 
testants,  but  they  must  in  some  matters  rely  on  church  author- 
ity,) "  in  matters,  for  which  he  must  rely  on  authority,  let  him 
rely  on  the  authority  of  that  church  which  God's  providence 
has  placed  him  under,"  (that  is  to  say.  whether  Catholic,  Pro- 
testant, Socinian,  Antinomian,  Jewish,  &c.)  "  rather  than  an- 
other which  he  hath  nothing  to  do  with,"  (every  Christian  has 
or  ought  to  have,  something  to  do  wiih  Christ's  true  church,) 
and  "  trust  to  those,  who,  by  encouraging  free  inquiry,  appear 
to  love  truth ;  rather  than  such  as,  by  requiring  all  their  doc- 
trines to  he  implicitly  obeyed,  seem  conscious  that  they  will 
not  bear  to  be  fairly  tried."  What,  my  lord  ;  would  you  have 
me  trust  those  men  who  have  just  now  deceived  me,  by  assur- 
ing me  that  I  should  not  stand  in  need  of  guides  at  all,  rather 
than  those  who  told  me,  from  the  first,  of  the  perplexities  m 
which  I  find  myself  entangled  !  Again,  do  you  advise  me  to 
prefer  these  conductors,  who  are  forced  to  confess  that  they 
may  mislead  me,  to  those  others,  who  assure  me,  and  this  upon 
strong  grounds,  that  they  will  conduct  me  with  perfect  safety! 
■  Our  Episcopal  controvertist  finishes  his  admonition  "  To  the 
ignorant  and  unlearned,"  with  an  address  calculated  for  the  stu- 
pid and  bigoted.  He  says:  "Let  others  build  on  fathers  and 
popes,  on  traditions  and  councils,  what  they  will :  let  us  coniinuo 
firm,  as  we  are,  on  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
Jesus  Chr.st  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone."  Ephes.  ii. 
What  empty  declamation !  Do  then  the  fathers,  popes,  and 
councils  profess  or  attempt  to  build  religion  on  any  oiher  founda- 
tion than  the  revelation  made  by  God  to  the  apostles  and  prophets  ? 
His  lordship  knows  full  well  that  they  do  not,  and  that  the  only 
questions  at  issue  are  these  three  :  1st,  Whether  this  revelation 
has  not  been  made  and  conveyed  by  the  unwritten,  as  well  as 
Dy  thf    written  word  of  God  ?     Sdly,  Whether  Christ  did  not 


OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED.  91 

commit  this  word  to  his  apostles  and  their  successors  "  till  the 
end  of  the  world."  for  them  to  preserve  and  announce  it  ? 
Lastly,  whether,  independently  of  this  commission,  it  is  consist- 
ent with  common  sense,  for  each  Protestant  ploughman  and 
mechani.3,  to  persuade  himself  that  he,  individually,  (for  he 
cannot,  according  to  his  rule,  build  on  the  opinion  of  other  Pro- 
testants, though  he  could  find  any  whose  faith  exactly  tallied 
with  his  own,)  that  he,  I  say,  individually,  understands  the 
Scriotures  better  than  all  the  doctors  and  bishops  of  the  church, 
who  now  are,  or  ever  have  been  since  the  time  of  the  apostles.* 
One  of  your  Salopian  friends,  in  writing  to  me,  ridicules  the 
idea  of  infallibility  being  lodged  in  any  mortal  mao^  or  number 
of  men.  Hence  it  is  fair  to  conclude  that  he  does  not  look  upon 
himself  to  be  infallible  ;  now  nothing  short  of  a  man's  convic- 
tion of  his  own  infallibility,  one  might  think,  would  induce  him 
to  prefer  his  own  judgment,  in  matters  of  religion,  to  that  of 
the  church  of  all  ages  and  all  nations.  Secondly,  if  this  objec- 
tion were  valid,  it  would  prove  that  the  apostles  themselves 
were  not  infallible.  Finally,  I  could  wish  your  friend  to  form 
a  right  idea  of  this  matter.  The  infallibility,  then,  of  our 
church  is  not  a  power  of  telling  all  things  past,  present,  and  to 
come,  such  as  the  pagans  ascribed  to  their  oracles  ;  but  merely 
the  aid  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  to  enable  her  truly  to  decide  what 
her  faith  is,  and  ever  has  been,  in  such  articles  as  have  been 
made  known  to  her  by  Scripture  and  tradition.  This  definition 
furnishes  answers  to  divers  other  objections  and  questions  of 
Dr.  P.  The  church  does  not  decide  the  controversy  concerning 
the  conception  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  and  several  other  dispu- 
ted points,  because  she  sees  nothing  absolutely  clear  and  cer- 
tain concerning  them,  either  in  the  written  or  the  unwritten 
word ;  and  therefore  leaves  her  children  to  form  their  own 
opinions  concerning  them.  She  does  not  dictate  an  exposition 
of  the  whole  Bible,  because  she  has  no  tradition  concerning  a 
very  great  proportion  of  it,  as  for  example,  concerning  the  pre 
phecy  of  Enoch,  quoted  by  Jude  14,  and  the  baptism  for  the 
dead,  of  which  St.  Paul  makes  mention,  1  Cor.  xv.  29,  and  the 
chronologies  and  genealogies  in  Genesis.  The  prelate  urges 
that  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  where  he  declares  that,  "  The 
church  of  God  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth,"  1  Tim.  iii. 
15,  may  be  'lanslated  a  different  way  from  that  received.— 
True  :  they  may,  but  not  without  altering  the  original  Greek 
as  also  the  common  Protestant  version.     He  says :  it  was  or. 

•  The  great  Bossuet  obliged  the  minister,  Claude,  in  his  conference  with 
him,  openly  to  avow  this  principle  ;  which,  in  fact,  every  consistent  Prot- 
estant must  avow,  who  maintains  his  private  interpretation  of  the  Bible  tt 
be  the  only  rule  of  his  faith. 


92  LETTER   in. 

dained  in  the  old  law  that  every  controversy  should  De  decided 
by  the  priests  and  Levites,  Deut.  xvii.  8,  and  yet  that  these 
avowedly  erred  in  rejecting  Christ. — True :  but  the  law  had 
then  run  its  destined  course,  and  the  divine  assistance  failed  the 
priests  in  the  very  act  of  their  rejecting  the  promised  Messiah, 
who  was  then  before  them. — He  adds,  that  St.  Paul,  in  his 
epistle  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  bids  her  not  to  be  high-minded, 
hut  fear :  for  (he  adds)  if  God  spared  not  the  Jews,  take  heed 
lest  he  also  spare  not  thee,  Rom.  xi. — Supposing  the  quotation  to 
be  accurate,  and  that  the  threat  is  particularly  addressed  to  the 
Christians  of  Rome  ;  what  is  that  to  the  present  purpose  ?  We 
never  supposed  the  promises  of  Christ  to  belong  to  them  or  their 
successors,  more  than  to  the  inhabitants  of  any  other  city.  In- 
deed it  is  the  opinion  of  some  of  our  most  learned  commenta- 
tors, that  before  the  end  of  the  world,  Rome  will  relapse  into  its 
former  paganism.*  In  a  word,  the  promises  of  our  Saviour, 
that  helVs  gates  shall  not  prevail  against  his  church — that  his 
Holy  Spirit  shall  lead  it  into  all  truth— and  that  he  himself  will 
remain  with  it  for  ever,  were  made  to  the  church  of  all  nations 
and  all  times,  in  communion  with  St.  Peter  and  his  successors, 
the  bishops  of  Rome :  and  as  these  promises  have  been  fulfilled, 
during  a  succession  of  eighteen  centuries,  contrary  to  the  usual 
and  natural  course  of  events,  and  by  the  visible  protection  of 
the  Almiirhty ;  so  we  rest  assured  that  he  will  continue  to  fulfil 
them,  till  the  church  militant  shall  be  wholly  transformed  into 
the  church  triumphant  in  the  heavenly  kingdom. 

Finally,  his  lordship,  with  other  controvertists,  objects 
against  the  infallibility  of  the  Catholic  Church,  that  its  advocates 
are  not  agreed  where  to  lodge  this  prerogative ;  some  ascribing 
it  to  the  pope,  others  to  a  general  council,  or  to  the  bishops 
dispersed  throughout  the  church. — True :  schoolmen  discuss 
some  such  points ;  but  let  me  ask  his  lordship,  whether  he 
finds  any  Catholic  who  denies  or  doubts  that  a  general  council, 
with  the  pope  at  its  head,  or  that  the  pope  himself,  issuing  a 
doctrinal  decision,  which  is  received  by  the  great  body  of  Cath- 
olic bishops,  is  secure  from  error  ?  Most  certainly  not :  and 
hence  he  may  gather  where  all  Catholics  agree  in  lodging  infal- 
libility. In  like  manner,  with  respect  to  our  national  constitu- 
tion ;  some  lawyers  hold  that  a  royal  proclamation,  in  such  and 
such  circumstances,  has  the  force  of  a  law ;  others,  that  a 
vote  of  the  house  of  lords,  or  of  the  commons,  or  of  both  houses 
together,  has  the  same  strength :  but  all  subjects  acknowledge, 
that  an  act  of  the  king,  lords,  and  commons,  is  binding  upon 
them  ;   and  this  suflices  for  all  practical  purposes. 

*  See  Cornel,  a  Lapid.  in  Apocalyp 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  03 

But  w.ien,  dear  sir,  will  there  be  an  end  of  the  objections  and 
cavils  of  men,  whose  pride,  ambition,  or  interest  leads  them  to 
deny  the  plainest  truths  ?  You  have  seen  those  which  the  in 
genuity  and  learning  of  the  Porteuses,  Seekers,  and  Tillotsons 
have  raised  against  the  unchangeable  Catholic  rule  and  inter- 
preter of  faith  :  say,  is  there  any  thing  sufficiently  clear  and 
certain  in  them,  to  oppose  to  the  luminous  and  sure  principles 
on  which  the  Catholic  method  is  placed  ?  Do  they  afford  you 
a  sure  footing,  to  support  you  against  all  doubts  and  fears  on 
the  score  of  your  religion,  especially  under  the  apprehension  of 
approaching  dissolution  ?  If  you  answer  affirmatively,  I  have 
nothing  more  to  say ;  but  if  you  cannot  so  answer ;  and,  if  you 
justly  dread  undertaking  your  voyage  to  eternity  on  the  pre- 
sumption  of  your  private  judgment,  a  presumption  which  you 
have  clearly  seen  has  led  so  many  other  rash  Christians  to  cer- 
tain shipwreck,  follow  the  example  of  those  who  have  happily 
arrived  at  the  port  which  you  are  in  quest  of.  In  other  words, 
listen  to  the  advice  of  the  holy  patriarch  to  his  son :  Then  To- 
Has  answered  his  father — /  know  not  the  way,  Sfc; — then  his 
father  said — Seek  thee  a  faithful  guide.  Tob.  v.  You  will  no 
sooner  have  sacrificed  your  own  wavering  judgment,  and  have 
submitted  to  follow  the  guide,  whom  your  heavenly  Father  has 
provided  for  you,  than  you  will  feel  a  deep  conviction  that  you 
are  in  the  right  and  secure  way  ;  and  very  soon  you  will  be 
«?nabled  to  join  with  the  happy  converts  of  ancient  and  modern 
times,*  in  this  hymn  of  praise :  "  I  give  thee  thanks,  O  God, 
my  enlightener  and  deliverer,  for  that  thou  hast  opened  the  eyes 
o^  my  soul  to  know  thee.  Alas !  too  late  have  I  known  thee, 
C  ancient  and  eternal  truth !  too  late  have  I  known  thee." 

I  am,  dear  sir,  yours,  (fee. 

Jo:iN    MiLNER. 
9*„  Austin's  Soliloquies,  c   33,  quoted  by  Dean  Creasy,  Rxomol  p  65& 


THB 

END   OF   RELIGIOUS   CONTRO\^ERSY. 


PART    II 


•*  There  are  many  other  things  which  keep  me  in  the  bosom  of  the  Cainolio 
Church.  The  agreement  of  diflerent  people  and  nations  keeps  me  there.  The 
authority  established  by  miracles,  nourished  by  hope,  increased  by  charity,  and 
confirmed  by  antiquity,  keeps  me  there.  The  succession  of  bishops  in  tf..e  see 
of  St.  Peter,  the  apostle,  (to  whom  our  Lord,  after  his  resurrection,  committed 
his  sheep  to  be  fed,)  down  to  the  present  bishop,  keeps  me  there.  Finally,  ihe 
very  name  of  CATHOLIC,  which,  among  so  many  heresies,  this  church  alone 
possesses,  keeps  me  there." — St.  Augustin,  Doctor  of  the  Churchy  A.  D.  400, 
contra  Epist.  Pundam.  c  4 


ON  THE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  TRUE 
CHURCH. 


LETTER  XUL— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.  &c. 

ON  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

Dear  sir — 

The  letters  which  I  have  received  from  you,  and  some  othei* 
of  your  reJigious  society,  satisfy  me  that  I  have  not  altogether 
lost  my  labor  in  endeavoring  to  prove  to  you,  that  the  pnvate 
interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture  is  not  a  more  certain  rule  of  faith 
than  an  imaginary  private  inspiration  is ;  and,  in  short,  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  the  only  sure  expounder  of  the  doctrine  of 
Christ.  Thus  much  you,  sir,  in  particular,  candidly  acknow- 
ledge :  but  you  ask  me,  on  the  part  of  some  of  your  friends,  as 
well  as  yourself,  why,  in  case  you  "  must  rely  on  authority," 
as  Bishop  Porteus  confesses  "  the  unlearned  must,"  that  is  to 
fcay,  the  great  bulk  of  mankind — why,  I  say,  you  should  not,  as 
he  advises  you,  "  rely  on  the  authority  of  that  church,  which 
God's  providence  hath  placed  you  under,  rather  than  on  that  of 
another  which  you  have  nothing  to  do  with,"*  and  why  you 
may  not  trust  to  the  Church  of  England,  in  particular,  to  guide 

•  Confutation  of  Errors  of  Popery,  p.  30. 


THE    TRUE    CHURCH.  95 

you  in  your  road  to  heaven,  with  equal  security  as  to  t  le  Church 
of  Rome? — Before  I  answer  you,  permit  me  to  congiatulate 
with  you  on  your  advance  towaixls  the  clear  sight  of  the  wliole 
truth  of  revelation.  As  long  as  you  profess  to  hunt  out  the 
several  articles  of  divine  revelation,  one  by  one,  through  the 
several  books  of  Scripture,  and  under  all  the  difficulties  and 
uncertainties  which,  as  I  have  clearly  shown,  attend  this  study, 
your  task  was  interminable,  and  your  success  hopeless ; 
whereas  now,  by  taking  the  church  of  God  for  your  guide,  you 
have  but  one  simple  inquiry  to  make,  "  Which  is  this  church  ?" 
A  question  that  admits  of  being  solved  by  "  men  of  good  will," 
with  equal  certainty  ?,rid  facility.  I  say,  there  is  but  one  in- 
quiry to  be  made,  namely,  •'  Which  is  the  true  church  ?"  be- 
cause if  there  is  any  one  rel;i/ious  truth  more  evident  than  the 
others  from  reason,  from  tie  Scriptures,  both  Old*  and  New,f 
from  the  Apostles'  Creed,J  and  from  constant  tradition,  it  is  this  : 
that  "the  Catholic  Church  preserves  the  true  worship  of  the 
Deity — she  being  the  fountain  of  truth,  the  house  of  faith,  and 
the  temple  of  God,"  as  an  ancii;nt  father  of  the  church  expresses 
it.§  Hence  it  is  as  clear  as  the  noonday-light,  that  by  soWing 
this  one  question,  "  Which  is  the  *rue  chuKjli  ?"  you  will  at 
once  solve  every  question  of  religious  controversy  that  ever  has 
been,  or  that  ever  can  be  agitated.  You  will  not  need  to  spend 
your  life  in  studying  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  their  original  lan- 
guages, and  their  authentic  copies,  and  in  confronting  passages 
with  each  other,  from  Genesis  to  Revelations — a  task  by  no 
means  calculated,  as  is  evident,  for  the  bulk  of  mankind ;  you 
will  only  have  to  hear  what  the  church  teaches  upon  the  seve- 
ral articles  of  her  faith,  in  order  to  know  with  certainty  what 
God  has  revealed  concerning  them.     Neither  need  you  hearken 

*  Speaking  of  the  future  church  of  the  Gentiles,  the  Almighty  thus  prom- 
ises, by  Isaiah  :  "  Sing,  0  barren,  thou  that  didst  not  bear,  &c. :  as  I  have 
Bworn  tbai  the  waters  of  Noah  should  no  more  go  over  the  earth,  so  I  have 
sworn  that  I  would  not  be  wroth  with  thee,  nor  rebuke  thee.  For  the  moun- 
tains  shall  depart  and  the  hills  be  removed,  but  my  kindness  shall  not  depart 
from  thee."  &c.,  liv.  See  also  lix.,  Ix.,  Ixiii.  Jerem.  xxxiii.  Ezech.  xxxvii. 
Dan.  n     Psalm.  Ixxxix. 

t  *  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
preva'l  against  it."  Matt.  xvi.  18.  "I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  until  'J'HE 
END  OF  THE  WORLD."  Matt,  xxviii.  20.  "  I  will  i  ray  the  Father, 
and  he  will  give  you  another  Comforter,  that  he  may  abide  with  you  FOR 
EVER,  even  the  Spirit  of  Truth ;  he  will  teach  you  ALL  TRUTH."  John 
xiv.  16,  &c.  "  The  house  of  God,  which  is  the  church  of  the  living  God 
THE  PILLAR  AND  GR0UND  OF  TRUTH."     1  Tim.  iii.  14. 

t  I  BELIEVE  THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH,  or,  I  BELIEVE 
IN  THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  Art.  ix.  The  article  is  read 
differently  by  different  holy  fathers ;  but,  either  way,  it  means  the  eaire  thing. 

^  Lactan.  De  Divin.  Inst.  I.  4. 


96  LETTER   XIII. 

to  contending  sects,  and  doctors  of  the  present  or  of  past  times ; 
you  will  need  only  to  hear  the  church,  which  indeed  Christ 
commands  you  to  hear,  under  pain  of  being  treated  as  a  heathen 
or  a  publican.     Matt,  xviii.  17. 

I  now  proceed,  dear  sir,  to  your  question,  "  Why,  admitting 
the  necessity  of  being  guided  by  the  church,  you  and  your 
friend  may  not  submit  to  be  guided  by  the  Church  of  England, 
OT  any  other  Protestant  church  to  which  you  respectively  be- 
long?''— My  answer  is,  Because  no  such  church  professes,  or^ 
consistently  with  the  fundamental  Protestant  rule  of  private 
judgment,  can  profess,  to  be  a  guide  in  matters  of  religion.  If 
you  admit,  but  for  an  instant,  church  authority,  then  Luther, 
Calvin,  and  Cranmer,  with  all  the  q^ther  founders  of  Protestantism, 
were  evidently  heretics  in  rebelling  against  it.  In  short,  no 
other  church  but  the  Catholic  can  claim  to  be  a  religious  guide, 
because,  evidently,  she  alone  is  "  the  true  church  of  Christ." 
This  assertion  leads  me  to  the  proof  of  what  I  asserted  above, 
respecting  the  facility  and  certainty  with  which  persons  of  good 
will  may  solve  that  most  important  question,  "  Which  is  the 
true  church  ?" 

Luther,*  Calvin,-]-  and  the  Church  of  England, J  assign  as  the 
characteristics  or  marks  of  the  true  church  of  Christ,  truth  of 
doctrine,  and  the  right  administration  of  the  sacraments.  But 
to  follow  this  method  of  finding  out  the  true  church,  would  be  to 
throw  ourselves  back  into  those  endless  controversies  concern- 
ing the  true  doctrine  and  the  right  discipline,  which  it  is  my 
present  object  to  put  an  end  to,  by  demonstrating,  at  once, 
"  which  is  the  true  church."  To  show  the  inconsistency  of  the 
Protestant  method,  let  us  suppose  that  at  a  levee,  some  person 
were  to  inquire  of  his  neighbor,  "  Which  of  the  personages  pre- 
sent is  the  prince  regent?"  and  that  he  was  to  receive  for 
answer,  "  It  is  the  king's  eldest  son :"  would  this  answer,  how- 
ever true,  be  of  any  use  to  the  inquirer?  Evidently  not. 
Whereas,  if  he  were  told  that  the  prince  wore  such  and  such 
clothes  and  ornaments,  and  was  seated  in  such  or  such  a  place, 
these  exterior  marks  would  at  once  put  him  in  possession  of  the 
mformation  he  was  in  search  of.  Thus  we  Catholics,  when  we 
are  asked,  "  Which  are  the  marks  of  the  true  church  ?"  point 
out  certain  exterior,  visible  marks,  such  as  plain,  unlearned  per- 
sons can  discover,  if  they  will  take  ordinary  pains  for  this  pur- 
pose, no  less  than  persons  of  the  greatest  abilities  and  literature ; 
at  the  same  time  that  they  are  the  very  marks  of  this  church, 
which,  as  I  said  above,  natural  reason,  the  Scriptures,  the 
creeds,  and  the  fathers,  assign  and  demonstrate  to  be  the  truo 

•  D«  Concii.  Eccles.  t  Inst.  1.  41.  t  Ait.  19 


THE    TRUE    CHUnCH.  97 

marks  by  which  it  is  to  be  distinguished.  Yes,  my  dear  sir, 
these  marks  of  the  true  church  are  so  plain  in  themselveB,  and 
so  evidently  point  it  out,  that,  as  the  prophet  Isaias  has  foretold, 
XXXV.  S,  fools  cannot  err  in  the  road  to  it.  They  are  the  flaming 
beacons  which  for  ever  shine  on  the  mountain  at  the  top  of  the 
mountains  of  the  Lord's  house.  Isai.  ii.  2.  In  short,  the  par- 
ticular motives  for  credibility  which  point  out  the  "  true  church 
of  Christ,"  demonstrate  this  with  no  less  certitude  and  evidence, 
than  the  general  motives  of  credibility  demonstrate  the  "  truth 
of  the  Christian  religion." 

The  chief  marks  of  the  true  church,  which  I  shall  here  as- 
sign, are  not  only  conformable  to  reason,  Scripture,  and  tradi- 
tion, but  (which  is  a  most  fortunate  circumstance)  they  are  such 
as  the  Church  of  England,  and  most  other  respectable  denomi- 
nations  of  Protestants,  acknowledge  and  profess  to  believe  in  no 
less  than  Catholics.  Yes,  dear  sir,  they  are  contained  in  those 
creeds  which  you  recite  in  your  daily  prayers,  and  proclaim  in 
your  solemn  worship.  In  fact,  what  do  you  say  of  the  church 
you  believe  in,  when  you  repeat  the  Apostles'  Creed  ?  You 
say,  I  BELIEVE  IN  THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 
Again,  how  is  this  church  more  particularly  described  in  the 
Nicene  Creed,  which  makes  part  of  your  public  liturgy  ?  In  this 
you  say,  I  BELIEVE  IN  ONE  CATHOLIC  AND  APOS- 
TOLIC CHURCH.*  Hence  it  evidently  follows  that  the 
church  which  you,  no  less  than  we,  profess  to  believe  in,  is 
possessed  of  these  four  marks:  UNITY,  SANCTITY,  CATH- 
OLICITY,  and  APOSTOLICITY.  It  is  agreed  upon,  then, 
that  all  we  have  to  do,  by  way  of  discovering  the  true  church, 
is  to  find  out  which  of  the  rival  churches,  or  communions,  is 
peculiarly  ONE— HOLY— CATHOLIC— and  APOSTOLIC. 
Thrice  happy,  dear  sir,  I  deem  it,  that  we  agree  together,  by 
the  terms  of  our  common  creeds,  in  a  matter  of  such  infinite 
importance,  for  the  happy  termination  of  all  our  controversies, 
as  are  these  qualities  or  characters  of  the  true  church,  which- 
cvei  that  may  be  found  to  be !  Still,  notwithstanding  this 
tgreement  in  our  creeds,  I  shall  not  omit  to  illustrate  these  char- 
icters  or  marks,  as  I  treat  them,  by  arguments  from  reason, 
loripture,  and  the  ancient  fathers 

I  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

John  Milnek. 


9S  LETTER    XIV. 


LETl  ER  XIV.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ  Ae 

UNITY  OF  THE  JHURCH. 
Dear  sir — 

Nothing  is  more  clear  to  natural  reason,  than  that  (rod  can 
net  be  the  author  of  different  religions :  for  being  the  Eterna. 
Truth;  he  cannot  reveal  contradictory  doctrines  ;  and  being  eh 
tho  same  time,  "the  Eternal  Wisdom,"  and  "  the  God  of  peace,'* 
he  cannot  establish  a  "  kingdom  divided  against  itself."  Hence 
i;  follows,  that  the  church  of  Christ  must  be  strictly  ONE ;  one 
in  "doctrine,"  one  in  "worship,"  and  one  in  "government." 
This  mark  of  unity  in  the  true  church,  which  is  so  clear  from 
reason,  is  still  more  clear  from  the  following  passages  of  Holy 
Writ.  Our  Saviour,  then,  speaking  of  himself,  in  the  character 
of  the  good  Shepherd,  says':  "  I  have  other  sheep"  (the  Gentiles) 
"  which  are  not  of  this  fold ;  them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they 
shall  hear  my  voice,  and  there  shall  be  ONE  FOLD,  and  one 
Shepherd."  John,  x.  16.  To  the  same  effect,  addressing  hi? 
heavenly  Father,  previously  to  his  passion,  he  says  :  "  I  pray 
for  all  that  shall  believe  in  me,  that  THEY  MAY  BE  ONE,  as 
thou.  Father,  art  in  me  and  I  in  thee."  John,  xvii.  20,  21.  In 
like  manner  St.  Paul  emphatically  inculcates  the  unity  of  the 
church,  where  he  writes  :  "  We  being  many  are  ONE  BODY 
in  Christ,  and  every  one  members  one  of  another."  Rom.  xii.  5. 
Again  he  writes  :  "  There  is  ONE  BODY  and  one  spirit,  as 
you  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling ;  one  Lord,  ONE 
FAITH,  and  one  baptism."  Ephes.  iv.  4,  5.  Conformably 
with  this  doctrine,  respecting  the  necessary  unity  of  the  church, 
this  apostle  reckons  HERESIES  among  the  sins  which  exclude 
from  the  kingdom  of  God,  Gal.  v.  20 ;  and  he  requires  that  a 
man  who  is  a  heretic,  after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  he  re- 
jected. Tit.  iii.  10. 

The  apostolical  fathers,  St.  Polycarp  and  St.  Ignatius,  in  their 
published  epistles,  hold  precisely  the  same  language  on  this  sub- 
ject  with  St.  Paul ;  as  does  also  their  disciple,  St.  Irenaeus,  who 
writes  thus :  "  No  reformation  can  be  so  advantageous,  as  the 
e^  il  of  schism  is  permcious."*  The  great  light  of  the  third  cen- 
tury,  St.  Cyprian,  has  left  us  a  whole  book  on  the  un  'y  of  the 
church,  in  which,  among  other  similar  passages,  he  writes  as 
follows  :  "  There  is  but  one  God,  and  one  Christ,  and  one  faith, 
and  a  people  joined  in  one  solid  body  with  the  cement  of  con- 
cord. This  unity  cannot  suffer  a  division,  nor  this  one  body 
bear  to  be  disjointed. — He  cannot  have  Gcd  for  his  Father,  who 

»  De  Haer.  1.  i.  c.  3 


PROTESTANT  DISUNION.  99 

nas  not  the  church  for  his  mother.  If  any  one  could  escape  the 
deluge  out  of  Noah's  ark,  he  who  is  out  of  the  church  may  also 
escape. — To  abandon  the  church  is  a  crime  which  blood  cannot 
wash  away.  Such  a  one  may  be  killed,  but  he  cannot  be 
crowned."*  In  the  fourth  century,  the  illustrious  St.  John 
Chrysostom,  writes  thus  :  "  We  know  that  salvation  belongs  to 
the  church  alone,  and  that  no  one  can  partake  of  Christ,  nor  he 
saved  out  of  the  Catholic  Church  andfaiih,''-\  The  language  of 
St.  Augustin,  in  the  fifth  century,  is  equally  strong  on  this  sub- 
ject, in  numerous  passages.  Among  others,  the  synodical  epis- 
tle of  the  Council  of  Zerta,  in  412,  drawn  up  by  this  saint,  tells 
the  Donatist  schismatics  :  "  Whoever  is  separated  from  this 
Catholic  Church,  however  innocently  he  may  think  he  lives,  for 
this  crime  alone,  that  he  is  separated  from  the  unity  of  Christ, 
will  not  have  life,  but  the  anger  of  God  remains  upon  him.^'X 
To  the  same  effect,  and  not  less  emphatical,  are  the  testimonies 
of  St.  Fulgentius  and  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, in  various  passages  of  their  writings.  I  shall  content  my- 
self with  citing  one  of  them.  "  Out  of  this  church,"  says  the 
former  father,  "  neither  the  name  of  Christian  avails,  nor  does 
baptism  save,  nor  is  a  clean  sacrifice  offered,  nor  is  there  for- 
giveness of  sins,  nor  is  the  happiness  of  eternal  life  to  be  found. "§ 
In  short,  such  has  been  the  language  of  the  fathers  and  the  doc- 
tors of  the  church  in  all  ages,  concerning  her  essential  unity, 
and  the  indispensable  obligation  of  being  united  to  her.  Such 
also  have  been  the  formal  declarations  of  the  church  herself,  in 
those  decrees  by  which  she  has  condemned  and  anathematized 
the  several  heretics  and  schismatics  that  have  dogmatized  in 
succession,  whatever  has  been  the  quality  of  their  errors,  or  tho 
pretext  for  their  disunion. — I  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XV.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  &c 

PROTESTANT  DISUNION. 
Dear  sir — 

In  the  inquiry  I  am  abcut  to  make  respecting  the  church  or 
aoDiety  of  Christians,  to  which  this  mark  of  unity  belongs,  it  will 

«  Cypr.  de  Unit.  Oxon.  p.  109.  t  Horn.  1.  in  Pasc. 

X  Concil.  Labbe.  torn.  ii.  p.  1520. 

§  Lib.  de  Remiss.  Peccat.  c.  23— N.B.  This  doctrine  concerning  the  unity 
of  the  church,  and  the  necessity  of  adhering  to  it,  under  pain  of  damnatioOi 
which  appears  so  rigid  to  modern  Protestants,  was  almost  universally  taughi 
by  iheir  predecessors:  as,  for  example,  by  Calvin,  1.  iv.  Instit.  1.,  and  Beza, 
Confess.  Fid.  c.  v. ;  by  thj  Hugueno'.a  in  their  catechism  ;  by  the  Scotch,  in 
th«ir  Profession  of  1568  ;  by  the  Church  of  England,  Art.  18  ;  by  the  cel« 


iOO  LETTER   XV. 

be  sufficiBut  for  my  purpose  to  consider,  that  of  Protestants  on 
one  hand,  and  that  of  Catholics  on  the  other.  To  speak  proper- 
ly, however,  it  is  an  absurdity  to  talk  of  the  "church  or  society 
of  Protestants ;"  for  the  term  PROTESTANT  expresses  "  noth- 
ing  positive,"  much  less  any  union  or  association  of  persons :  it 
barely  signifies  one  who  protests,  or  declares,  against  some  other 
person  or  persons,  thing  or  things  ;  and  in  the  present  instance 
it  signifies  those  who  protest  against  the  Catholic  Church.  Hence, 
there  may  be,  and  there  are,  numberless  sects  of  Protestants, 
divided  from  each  other  in  every  thing,  except  in  opposing  their 
true  mother  the  Catholic  Church.  St.  Augustin  reckons  up 
ninety  heresies,  which  had  protested  against  the  church  be- 
fore his  time,  that  is,  during  the  first  four  hundred  years  of 
her  existence  ;  and  ecclesiastical  writers  have  counted  about 
the  same  number,  that  rose  up  since  that  period,  down  to  the 
era  of  Luther's  protestation,  which  took  place  early  in  the  six- 
teenth century  ;  whereas,  from  the  last-mentioned  era  to  the  end 
of  the  same  century,  Staphylus  and  Cardinal  Hosius  enumerated 
two  hundred  and  seventy  different  sects  of  Protestants  :  and, 
alas  !  how  have  Protestant  sects,  beyond  reckoning  and  descrip- 
tion,  multiplied  during  the  last  two  hundred  years  !  Thus  has 
the  observation  of  the  above-cited  holy  father  been  verified  in 
modern,  no  less  than  it  was  in  former  ages,  where  he  exclaims: 
"  Into  how  many  morsels  have  these  sects  been  broken,  who 
have  divided  themselves  from  the  unity  of  the  church  ?"*  You 
are  not  ignorant  that  the  illustrious  Bossuet  has  written  two 
considerable  volumes  on  the  Variations  of  the  Protestants  ;  chiefly 
on  those  of  the  Lutheran  and  the  Calvinistic  progenies.  Numer- 
ous other  variations,  dissensions,  and  mutual  persecutions,  even 
to  the  extremity  of  death,-|-  which  have  taken  place  among  them, 
I  have  had  occasion  to  mention  in  my  former  letters  and  other 

brated  Bishop  Pearson,  &c.  The  last-named  writes  thus  :  "  Christ  never 
appointed  two  ways  to  heaven ;  nor  did  he  build  a  church,  to  save  some, 

and  make  another  institution  for  other  men's  salvation. As  none  were 

saved  from  the  deluge  but  such  as  were  within  the  ark  of  Noah  •,  so  none 
shall  ever  escape  the  eternal  wrath  of  God,  which  belongs  not  to  the  church 
of  God."— Exposit.  of  Creed,  p.  349. 

«  St.  Aug.  contra  Petillian. 

t  liUther  pronounced  the  Sacramentarians,  namely,  the  Calvinists,  Zuing- 
lians,  and  those  Protestants,  in  general,  who  denied  the  real  presence  of 
Christ  in  the  sacrament,  heretics,  and  damned  so^  s,for  whom  it  is  not  law- 
ful  to  pray.  Epist.  ad  Arginten.  Catech.  Parv.  O  mment.  in  Gen.  His  fol. 
lowers  persecuted  Bucer,  Melancthon's  ne.phew,  with  imprisonment,  and  put 
CrelHus  to  death,  for  endeavoring  to  soften  their  master's  doctrine  in  thi? 
point.  Mosheim  by  Maclaine,  vol.  iv.  p.  341 — 353.  Zuinglius,  while  he 
deified  Hercules,  Theseus,  &.C.,  condemned  the  Anabaptists  to  be  drowned, 
pronouncing  this  sentence  on  Felix  Mans  :  "  Qui  iterum  mergunt  mergan. 
tur,-**  which  sentence  was  accordingly  executed  at  Zurich.    Limboreh.  In. 


^    ^^^-SUy    i\.tAU(Al^\t^n 


PROTESTANT   DISUNION.  101 

H  dirks*  I  have  also  quoted  the  lamentations  of  Calvin,  Dudith, 
and  other  h<^ads  of  the  Protestants,  on  the  subject  of  these  divi- 
sions. You  will  recollect,  in  particular,  what  the  latter  writes 
concerning  those  differences :  "  Our  people  are  carried  away  by 
every  v-ind  of  doctrine.  If  you  know  what  their  belief  is  to-day, 
you  cannot  tell  what  it  will  be  to-morrow.  Is  there  one  article 
of  religion,  in  which  these  churches,  who  are  at  war  with  the 
pope,  agree  together  ?  If  you  run  over  all  the  articles,  from  the 
first  to  the  last,  you  will  not  find  one,  which  is  not  held  by  some 
of  them  to  be  an  article  of  faith,  and  rejected  by  others  as  aa 
impiety. "f 

With  these  and  numberless  other  historical  facts  of  the  same 
nature  before  his  eyes,  would  it  not,  dear  sir,  I  appeal  to  your 
own  good  sense,  be  the  extremity  of  folly,  for  any  one  to  lay  the 
least  claim  to  the  mark  of  unity  in  favor  of  Protestants,  or  to 
pretend  that  they,  who  are  united  in  nothing  but  in  their  hostility 
towards  the  Catholic  Church,  can  form  the  one  church  we  profess 
to  believe,  in  the  creed  !  Perhaps,  however,  you  will  say  that 
the  mark  of  unity,  which  is  wanting  among  the  endless  divi- 
sions of  Protestants  in  general,  may  be  found  in  the  church  to 
which  you  belong,  the  Established  Church  of  England. — I 
grant,  dear  sir,  that  your  communion  has  better  pretensions  to 
this,  and  the  other  marks  of  the  church,  than  any  other  Protest- 
ant society  has.  She  is,  as  our  controversial  poet  sings,  "  The 
least  deformed,  because  reformed  the  least. "^  You  will  recoU 
lect  the  account  I  have  given,  in  a  former  \&  «r,§  of  the  mate- 
rial changes  which  this  church  has  undergone,  at  different  times, 
since  her  first  formation  in  the  reign  of  the  last  Edward,  and 
which  place  her  at  variance  with  herself.  Y'ou  will  also  re- 
member the  proofs  of  Hoadleyism,  in  other  vords,  of  Socinian- 
ism,  that  damnable  and  cursed  heresy,  as  this  church  termed  it 
in  her  last  synod,  ||  which  I  brought  against  several  of  her  most 
illustrious  bishops,  archdeacons,  and  other  digf>itaries  of  modt  rn 
times.  These  teach,  in  official  charges  to  the  clergy,  in  con::e- 
cration  sermons,  and  in  publications  addr^ssid  to  the  throne, 

trod.  71.  Not  content  with  anathematizing  and  impriso-^'og  those  reformers 
'Kho  dissented  from  his  system,  John  Calvin  caused  two  of  them,  Servt/aa 
and  Gruet,  to  be  put  to  death.  The  Presbyterians  of  Hollard  and  New  Eng- 
land were  equally  intolerant  with  respect  to  other  Jenominaions  jf  Protest- 
ants.  The  latter  hanged  four  Quakers,  one  of  them  a  won^an,  on  account 
of  their  religion.  In  England  itself,  frequent  executions  of  Anabaptists  and 
other  Protestants  took  place,  from  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  till  ih>t  of  Charles 
I.,  and  other  severe,  though  less  sanguinary  persecutions  of  Protestants  con 
tinned  till  the  time  of  James  II. 

*  Lett,  to  a  Prebendary,  &c.         t  Epist.  ad  Capiton.  inter.  Epipt  Bpzaa 
X  Dryden's  Hind  and  Panther.  §  Letter  viii. 

y  Constitutions  and  Canons,  A.D.  1640.     Sparrow's  Collect,  p.  355. 

9* 


102  LETTER    XV. 

that  the  chur(;h  herself  is  nothing  more  than  a  voluntary  asso 
ciation  of  ceitain  people  for  the  benefit  of  social  worship;  tha 
they  themselves  are  in  no  other  sense  ministers  of  God,  than 
civil  officers  are ;  that  Christ  has  left  us  no  exterior  means  of 
grace,  and  that,  of  course,  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper 
(which  are  declared  necessary  for  salvation  in  the  catechism) 
produce  no  spiritual  effect  at  all ;  in  short,  that  all  mysteries, 
and  among  the  rest  those  of  the  trinity  and  incarnation,  (for  de- 
nying which  the  prelates  of  the  Church  of  England  have  sent 
«o  many  Arians  to  the  stake  in  the  reigns  of  Edward,  Elizabeth, 
and  James  I.)  are  mere  nonsense.*  When  I  had  occasion  to 
expose  this  fatal  system,  (the  professors  of  which,  Cranmer  and 
Ridley  would  have  sent  at  once  to  the  stake,)  I  hoped  it  was  of 
a  local  nature,  and  that  defending,  as  I  was,  in  this  point,  the 
articles  and  liturgy  of  the  Established  Church,  as  well  as  my 
own,  I  should,  thus  far,  be  supported  by  its  dignitaries  and  other 
learned  members.  I  found,  however,  the  contrary  to  be  gene- 
lally  the  case,j"  and  that  the  irreligious  infection  was  infinitely 
more  extensive  than  I  apprehended.  In  fact,  I  found  the  most 
celebrated  professors  of  divinity  in  the  universities,  delivering 
Dr.  Balguy's  doctrine  to  the  young  clergy  in  their  public  lec- 
tures, and  the  most  enlightened  bishops  publishing  it  in  their 
pastorals  and  other  works.  Among  these  the  Norrisian  pro 
fessor  of  theology  at  Cambridge,  carries  his  deference  to  the 
Archdeacon  of  Winchester  so  far,  as  to  tell  his  scholars,  "  As 
I  distrust  my  own  conclusions  more  than  his,  (Dr.  Balguy's,)  if 
you  judge  that  they  are  not  reconcilable,  I  must  exhort  you  to 
confide  in  him  rather  than  me. "J  In  fact  his  idea  concerning 
the  mysteries  of  Christianity,  particularly  the  trinity,  and  oar 
redemption  by  Christ,  and  indeed  concerning  most  other  theolo- 
gical points,  perfectly  agree  with  those  of  Dr.  Balguy.  He  de- 
scribes the  difference  between  the  members  of  the  Established 
Church  and  the  Socinians,  as  consisting  in  nothing  but  "a  few 
unmeaning  words,"  and  asserts,  that  "  they  need  never  be  upou 
their  guard  against  each  other. "§  Speaking  of  the  custom.,  as 
he  calls  it,  "in  the  Scripture,  of  mentioning  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost  together,  on  the  most  solemn  occasions,  of  which 

*  See  extracts  from  the  sermons  of  Bishop  Hoadley,  Dr.  Balguy,  and  Dr 
Siuiges,  in  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  Let.  viii.  The  most  perspicuous  and 
nervous  of  these  preachers,  unquestionably  was  Dr.  Balguy.  See  his  Ois. 
courses  and  Charges.     Lockyer- Davis,  1785. 

t  That  great  ornament  of  the  Episcopal  bench,  Dr.  Horsley,  Bishop  of 
St.  Asaph's,  does  not  fall  under  this  censure  ;  as  he  protected  the  present 
writer  both  in  and  out  of  Parliament. 

X  Loiturcs  in  Divinity,  delivered  in  the  University  of  Cambridge,  by  J 
Ilej ,  D.D.,  \s  Norrisian  Professor,  in  four  volumes,  1797.    Vol.  ii.  p.  104. 

§  Ibid,  p  41. 


PROTESTANT    DISUNION.  103 

baptism  is  one," — he  says,  "  Did  I  pretend  to  understand  M'hai 
I  say,  I  might  be  a  Tritheist  or  an  infidel  ;  but  I  could  not  wor- 
ship the  one  true  God,  and  acknowledge  Jesus  Christ  to  be  the 
Lord  of  .ill."*  Another  learned  professor  of  divinity,  who  is 
also  a  bishop  of  the  Established  Church,  teaches  his  clergy, 
*'  Not  to  esteem  any  particular  opinion  concerning  the  trinity f 
mtisf action,  and  original  sin,  as  necessary  to  salvation. "f  Ac- 
cordingly, he  equally  absolves  the  Unitarian  from  impiety,  in 
refusing  divine  honor  to  our  blessed  Saviour,  and  "  the  wor- 
shipper of  Jesus,"  as  he  expresses  himself,  from  idolatry,  in 
paying  it  to  him,  on  the  score  of  their  common  good  intention.^ 
This  sufficiently  shows  what  the  bishop's  own  belief  was,  con- 
cerning the  adorable  Trinity  and  the  Divinity  of  the  second  per- 
son of  it.  I  have  given,  in  a  former  letter,  a  remarkable  pas- 
sage from  the  above  quoted  charge,  where  Bishop  Watson, 
s^>eaking  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  says  to  his  assembled 
clergy,  "  I  think  it  safer  to  tell  you  where  they  are  contained, 
than  wliat  they  are.  They  are  contained  in  the  Bible ;  and  if, 
m  reading  that  book,  your  sentiments  should  be  different  from 
those  of  your  neighbor,  or  from  those  of  the  church,  be  persuaded 
that  infallibility  appertains  as  little  to  you,  as  it  does  to  the 
church."  I  have  elsewhere  exposed  the  complete  Socinianism 
of  Bishop  Hoadley  and  his  scholars,§  among  whom  we  must 
reckon  Bishop  Shipley  in  the  first  rank. 

Another  celebrated  writer,  who  was  himself  a  dignitary  of 
the  Establishment,  II  arguing,  as  he  does  most  powerfully,  against 
the  consistency  and  efficacy  of  public  confessions  of  faith, 
among  Protestants  of  every  denomination,  says,  that  out  of  a 
hundred  ministers  of  the  Establishment,  who,  every  year,  sub- 
scribe the  articles  made  "  to  prevent  diversity  of  opinions,"  he 
has  reason  to  believe,  "  that  above  one-fifth  of  this  number  do 
not  subscribe  or  assent  to  these  articles  in  one  uniform  sense. "IT 
He  also  quotes  a  right  reverend  author  who  maintains,  tha; 
"  No  two  thinking  men  ever  agreed  exactly  in  their  own  opinion, 
even  with  regard  to  any  one  article  of  it."**  He  also  quotes  the 
famous  Bishop  Burnet,  who  says,  that  "  The  requiring  of  sub- 
scription to  the  39  articles  is  a  great  imposition,ff  and  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  clergy  subscribe  the  articles  without  ever  exam- 
ining them,  and  others  do  it  because  they  must  do  it,  though  they 

*  Lectures  m  Divinity,  delivered  in  the  University  of  Cambridge,  by  J 
IL'.y,  D  D.,  as  Norrisian  Professor,  in  four  volumes,  1797.  Vol.  ii.  pp.  25(\ 
851.  T  Dr.  Watson,  Bishop  of  LandnfT's  charge,  1795. 

t  Cnllect.  of  Theol.  Tracts,  Pref.  p.  17.         §  Letters  to  a  Prebendary. 

II  Dr  Blackburn,  Archdeacon  of  Cleveland,  author  of  the  Confessional. 

T  Confess.  3  Ed.  p.  45.  **  Dr.  Clayton,  Bishop  of  Clogher. 

•i  Ci  nftss.  p.  (83. 


104  LETTER    XV. 

can  hardly  satisfy  their  consciences  about  some  things  in  them.''* 
He  shows  that  the  advocates  for  subscription,  Doctors  Nichols, 
Bennet,  Waterland,  and  Stebbing,  all  vindicated  it  on  opposite 
grounds ;  and  he  is  forced  to  confess  the  same  thing  with  respect 
to  the  enemies  of  subscription,  with  whom  he  himself  ranks. 
Dr.  Clark  pretends  there  is  a  salvo  in  the  subscription,  namely, 
I  assent  to  the  articles  inasmuch  as  they  are  agreeahle  to  Scrip- 
ture,'\  though  the  judges  of  England  have  declared  to  the  con- 
trary.if  Dr.  Sykes  alleges  that  they  were  either  purposely  or 
negligently  made  equivocal.^  Another  writer,  whom  he  praises, 
undertakes  to  explain,  how  "  these  articles  may  be  subscribed, 
and  consequently  believed,  by  a  Sabellian,  an  orthodox  Trini- 
tarian, a  Tritheist,  and  an  Arian  so  called."  After  this  cita- 
tion Dr.  Blackburn  shrewdly  adds,  "  One  would  wonder  what 
idea  this  writer  had  of  peace,"  "  when  he  supposed  it  might  be 
kept  by  the  act  of  subscription  among  men  of  these  different 
judgments. "II  If  you  will  look  into  Overton's  True  Churchman 
Ascertained,  you  will  meet  with  additional  proofs  of  the  repug- 
nance of  many  other  dignitaries  and  distinguished  churchmen 
to  the  articles  of  their  own  church,  as  well  as  of  their  disagree, 
ment  in  faith  among  themselves.  Hence  you  will  not  wonder 
that  a  numerous  body  of  them  should,  some  years  ago,  have  pe- 
titioned the  legislature  to  be  relieved  from  the  grievance,  as  they 
termed  it,  of  subscribing  to  these  articles  ;ir  nor  will  you  be  sur- 
prised  at  hearing  of  the  mutilation  of  the  liturgy  by  so  many 
others,  to  avoid  sanctioning  those  doctrines  of  their  church, 
which  they  disbelieve  and  reject,  particularly  the  Athanasian 
Creed  and  the  Absolution.** 

I  might  disclose  a  still  wider  departure  from  their  original 
confessions  of  faith,  and  still  more  signal  dissensions  among  the 
different  dissenters,  and  particularly  among  the  old  stock  of 
the  Presbyterians  and  Independents,  if  this  were  necessary. 
Most  of  these,  says  Dr.  Jortin,  are  now  Socinians,  though  we 
all  know  they  heretofore  persecuted  that  sect  with  fire  and 
sword.  The  renowned  Dr.  Priestly  not  only  denied  the 
divinity  of  Christ,  but  with  horrid  blasphemy,  accused  hirn  of 
numerous  errors,  weaknesses,  and  faults  iff  and  when  -the  au. 
thority  of  Calvin,  in  burning  Servetus,  was  objected  to  him,  he 
answered,  "  Calvin  was  a  great  man,  but  if  a  little  man  be 

»  Confess  p.  91.        t  P  222.        t  P.  183.        §  P.  237.         |1  P.  239 

IT   Particularly  in  1772. 

**  The  omission  of  the  Athanasian  Creed,  in  particular,  so  often  took  place 
in  the  public  service,  that  an  act  of  Parliament  has  just  been  passed,  to  en. 
force  the  repetition  of  it.  But,  if  the  clergymen  alluded  to  really  believe 
that  Christ  is  not  God,  wha  is  the  legislature  doing  in  Wcing  them  to  woi 
whip  him  as  Gv)d  !  ++  Theolog.  Reposit.  ■vol.  4. 


PROTESTANT    DISUNION.  I  Oft 

placed  on  the  shoulders  of  a  giant,  he  will  be  enabled  to  see 
further  than  the  giant  himself/'  The  doctrine  now  preached  in 
the  fashionable  Unitarian  chapels  of  the  metropolis,  I  undei 
stand,  greatly  resembles  that  of  the  late  Theophilanthropists  of 
France,  instituted  by  an  infidel,  who  was  one  of  the  five 
iirectofs. 

The  chief  question,  however,  at  present  is,  whether  tha 
Church  of  England  can  lay  any  claim  to  the  first  character  or 
mark  ol'  the  true  church,  pointed  out  in  our  common  creed,  thai 
of  UNITY  ?  On  this  subject  I  have  to  observe,  that  in  addition 
to  the  dissensions  among  its  members,  already  mentioned,  theie 
are  whole  societies,  not  communicating  with  the  ostensible 
Church  of  England,  who  make  very  strong  and  plausible  pie- 
tensions  to  be,  each  of  them,  the  real  Church  of  England.  Such 
are  the  Non-jurors,  who  maintain  the  original  doctrine  of  this 
church,  contained  in  the  homilies,  concerning  passive  obedience 
and  non-resistance,  and  who  adhere  to  the  first  ritual  of  Edward 
VI.  :*  such  are  the  evangelical  preachers  and  their  disciples, 
who  insist  upon  it  that  pure  Calvinism  is  the  creed  of  the  ]''s- 
tablished  Church  :f  finally,  such  are  the  Methodists,  whom  Pro- 
fessor Hey  describes  as  forming  the  old  Church  of  England.\ 
And  even  now,  it  is  notorious  that  many  clergymen  preach  in 
the  churchey  in  the  morning,  and  in  the  meeting-houses  in  the 
evening  ;  wnilst  their  opulent  patrons  are  purchasing  as  many 
church  livii/gs  as  they  can,  in  order  to  fill  them  with  incum, 
bents  of  the  same  description.  Tell  me  now,  dear  sir,  whether, 
from  this  view  of  the  state  of  the  Church  of  England,  or  from 
any  other  fair  view  which  can  be  taken  of  it,  you  will  venture 
to  ascribe  to  it  that  first  mark  of  the  true  church,  which  you  pro- 
fess to  belong  to  her,  when  in  the  face  of  heaven  and  earth,  you 
solemnly  declare  :  /  believe  in  ONE  Catholic  Church  1  Say,  is 
there  any  single  mark  or  principle  of  real  unity  in  it !  I  anti- 
cipate the  answers  your  candor  will  give  to  these  questions. 

I  am,  &c. 

John  Miln4R. 

*  To  this  church  belonged  Ken,  and  the  other  six  bishops  who  were  is 
pcsed  hx  the  revolution,  as  also  LesHe,  Collier,  Hicks,  Bret,  and  many  cJic 
S.-.ief  oinaments  of  the  Church  of  England. 

t  It  is  clear  from  the  articles  and  homilies,  and  still  more  from  the  porse 
cution  which  the  asserters  of  free-will  heretofore  suflered  in  this  country,  tha» 
the  Church  of  England  was  Calvinistic  till  the  end  of  the  reign  of  James  I., 
in  the  course  of  which  that  monarch  sent  episcopal  representatives  from  Eng 
land  and  Scotland  to  the  great  Protestant  Synod  of  Dort.  These,  in  iJia 
name  of  their  resi)ectiv3  churches,  signed  that  "  The  faithful  who  fall  iiitc 
atrocious  crimes,  do  not  forfeit  juatification,  or  incur  camiatlon.** 

i  Vol.  ii.  p.  73 


106  LETTER   XVr. 

Li  ITER  XVI.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  2iSQ,  Ae 

CATHOLIC  UNITY. 
Dear  sir — 

We  have  now  to  see  whether  that  first  mark  of  the  Lrue 
church,  which  we  confess  in  our  creeds,  but  which  we  have 
found  to  be  wanting  to  the  Protestant  societies,  and  even  to  the 
most  ostensible  and  orderly  amongst  them,  the  Established 
Church  of  England,  does  or  does  not  appear  in  that  principal 
and  primeval  stock  of  Christianity,  called  the  Catholic  Church. 
[n  case  this  church,  spread,  as  it  is,  throughout  the  various  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  and  subsisting,  as  it  has  done,  through  all 
ages,  since  that  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  should  have  main- 
iained  that  religious  unity,  which  the  modern  sects,  confined  to 
a  hiiigle  people,  have  been  unable  to  preserve,  you  will  allow 
ihat  it  must  have  been  framed  by  a  consummate  Wisdom,  and 
protected  by  an  Omnipotent  Providence. 

Now,  sir,  I  maintain  it,  as  a  notorious  fact,  that  this  original 
and  great  church  is,  and  ever  has  been,  strictly  ONE  in  all  the 
above-mentioned  particulars,  and  first  in  her  faith  and  terms  of 
communion.  The  same  creeds,  namely,  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
the  Nicene  Creed,  the  Athanasian  Creed,  and  the  Creed  of  Pope 
Pius  IV.,  drawn  up  in  conformity  with  the  definitions  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  are  everywhere  recited  and  professed,  to  the 
Ftrict  letter  ;  the  same  articles  of  faith  and  morality  are  taught 
in  all  our  catechisms,  the  same  rule  of  faith,  namely,  the  re- 
vealed word  of  God,  contained  in  Scripture  and  tradition,  and 
•.he  same  expositor  and  interpreter  of  this  rule,  the  Catholic 
Church,  speaking  by  the  mouth  of  her  pastors,  are  admitted  and 
proclaimed  by  all  Catholics  throughout  the  four  quarters  of  the 
globe,  from  Ireland  to  Chili,  and  from  Canada  to  India.  You 
may  convince  yourself  of  this  any  day  at  the  Royal  Exchange, 
by  conversing  with  intelligent  Catholic  merchants,  from  the 
several  countries  in  question.  You  may  satisfy  yourself  re- 
specting it  even  by  interrogating  the  poor  illiterate  Irish,  and 
other  Catholic  foreigners,  who  traverse  the  country  in  various 
directions.  Ask  iiem  their  belief  as  to  the  fundamental  articles 
of  Christianity,  tne  unity  and  trinity  of  God,  the  incarnation  and 
death  of  Christ,  his  divinity,  and  atonement  for  sin  by  his  pas- 
s'on  and  death,  the  necessity  of  baptism,  the  nature  of  the  bless- 
ed sacrament ;  question  them  on  these  and  other  such  points, 
but  with  kindness,  patience,  and  condescension,  particularly 
with  respect  to  their  language  and  delivery,  and,  I  will  venture 
to  say,  you  will  not  find  any  essential  variation  in  the  answers 
of  mo«t  of  them  ;  sod  much  less  such  as  you  will  find  by  pro. 


CATHOLIC    UNITY.  107 

posing  the  same  questions  to  an  equal  number  of  Protestants, 
whether  learned  or  unlearned,  of  the  same  denomination.  At 
all  events,  the  Catholics,  if  properly  interrogated,  will  confess 
their  belief  in  one  comprehensive  article,  namely  this  :  /  lelieve 
whatever  the  holy  Catholic  Church  believes  'ind  teaches. 

Protestant  divines,  at  the  present  day,  excuse  their  dissent 
from  the  articles  which  they  subscribe  and  swear  to,  by  reason 
of  I  heir  alleged  antiquity  and  obsoleteness,*  though  none  of  them 
are  yel  quite  two  centuries  and  a  half  old  ;f  and  they  feel  no 
difficulty  in  avowing,  that  "  a  tacit  reformation,"  since  the  first 
pretended  reformation,  has  taken  place  among  them.if  This 
alone  is  a  confession  that  their  church  is  not  one  and  the  same  : 
whereas  all  Catholics  believe  as  firmly  in  the  doctrinal  decisions 
of  the  Council  of  Nice,  passed  fifteen  hundred  years  ago,  as  they 
do  in  those  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  confirmed  in  1564,  and  other 
still  more  recent  decisions  :  because  the  Catholic  Church,  like 
its  divine  Founder,  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever, 
Heb.  xiii.  8. 

Nor  is  it  in  her  doctrine  only,  that  the  Catholic  Church  is  one 
and  the  same  ;  she  is  also  uniform  in  whatever  is  essential  in 
her  liturgy.  In  every  part  of  the  world,  she  offers  up  the  same 
unbloody  sacrifice  of  the  holy  mass,  which  is  her  chief  act  of 
divine  worship  :  she  administers  the  same  seven  sacraments, 
provided  by  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy  for  the  several  wants  of 
the  faithful  ;  the  great  festivals  of  our  redemption  are  kept  holy 
on  the  same  days,  and  the  apostolical  fast  of  Lent  is  every- 
where proclaimed  and  observed.  In  short,  such  is  the  unity  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  that  when  Catholic  priests  or  laymen, 
landing  at  one  of  the  neighboring  ports,  from  India,  Canada,  or 
Brazil,  come  to  my  chapel,§  I  find  them  capable  of  joining  with 
me  in  every  essential  part  of  the  divine  service. 

Lastly,  as  a  regular,  uniform,  ecclesiastical  constitution  and 
g&vemment,  and  a  due  subordination  of  its  members,  are  requi- 
site to  constitute  a  uniform  church,  and  to  preserve  in  it  unity 
of  doctrine  and  liturgy;  so  these  are  undeniably  evident  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  in  her  alone.  She  is,  in  the  language  of 
St.  Cyprian,  "  the  habitation  of  peace  and  unity,"||  and  in  that 
of  the  inspired  text,  like  an  army  in  battle  array.^  Spreail,  as 
the  Catholics  are.  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  according  to  my 
former  observatiiDn,  and  disunited,  as  they  are,  in  every  other 
respect,  they  form  one  uniform  body  in  the  order  of  religion. 

*  Dr.  Hey's  Lectures  in  Divinity,  vol.  ii.  pp.  49,  50,  51,  &,c. 
t  The  39  articles  were  drawn  in  1562,  and  confirmed  b}-  the  queen  and 
tlie  bishops  in  1571.  t  Hey,  p.  48. 

^  At  Winchester,  where  the  writer  resided  vhen  this  letter  waa  wnttoa, 
I)  "  Doraiciiium  pacis  et  unitaiis.*'     Sk  Cyp.  ^  Cant.  vi.  4 


108  LETTER    XVI. 

Wliether  roaming  in  the  plains  of  Paraguay,  or  confined  in  the 
palaces  of  Pekin,  each  simple  Catholic,  in  point  of  ecclesiastical 
economy,  is  subject  to  his  pastor ;  each  pastor  subniHs  to  his 
bishop  ;  and  each  bishop  acknowledges  the  supremacy  of  the 
successor  of  St.  Peter,  in  matters  of  faith,  morality,  and  spiritual 
jurisdiction.  In  every  case  of  error,  or  insubordination,  which, 
from  the  frailty  and  malice  of  the  human  heart,  must  from  time 
to  lime,  disturb  her,  there  are  found  canons  and  ecclesiastical 
tribunals  and  judges,  to  correct  and  put  an  end  to  the  evil^ 
while  similar  evils  in  other  religious  societies  are  found  to  be 
mterminable. 

I  have  said  little  or  nothing  of  the  varieties  of  Protestant?,  in 
regard  to  their  liturgies  and  ecclesiastical  governments,  because 
these  matters  being  very  intricate  and  obscure,  as  well  as  di- 
versitied,  would  lead  me  too  far  a-field  for  my  present  plan.  It 
is  sufficient  to  remark,  that  the  numerous  Protestant  sects,  ex- 
pressly disclaim  any  union  with  each  other  in  these  points  ; — 
that  a  great  proportion  of  them  reject  every  species  of  liturgy 
and  ecclesiastical  government  whatever  ; — that,  in  the  Church 
of  England  herself,  very  many  of  her  dignitaries,  and  other  dis- 
tinguished members,  express  their  pointed  disapprobation  of  cer- 
tain parts  of  her  liturgy  no  less  than  of  her  articles  ;* — and 
that  none  of  them  appear  to  stand  in  awe  of  any  authority,  ex- 
cept that  of  the  civil  power.  Upon  a  review  of  the  whole  mat. 
ter  of  Protestant  disunion  and  Catholi§  unity,  I  am  forced  to  re- 
peat with  Tertullian :  "  It  is  the  character  of  error  to  vary 
but  when  a  tenet  is  found  to  be  one  and  the  same  amongst  a 
great  variety  of  people,  it  is  to  be  considered,  not  as  an  error 
but  as  a  divine  tradition. f 

I  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

John  Milner. 

*  Archdeacon  Paley  very  naturally  complains,  that  "  the  doctrine  of  th# 
articles  of  the  Church  of  England,"  which  he  so  pointedly  objects  to,  "  arc 
interwoven  with  much  industry  into  her  forms  of  public  worship."  I  hav« 
not  met  with  a  Protestant  bishop,  or  other  eminent  divine,  from  Archbishop 
Tillotson  down  to  the  present  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  who  approves  altogether 
of  the  Athanasian  Creed,  which,  however,  is  appointed  to  be  said  or  sung  on 
thirteen  chief  festivals  in  the  year. 

t  De  Praescrip.  contra  Hser. — The  famous  Bishop  Jewel,  in  excuse  for  the 
acknowledged  variations  of  his  own  church,  objects  to  Catholics,  that  there 
are  varieties  in  theirs ;  namely,  some  of  the  friars  are  dressed  in  black,  and 
some  in  white,  and  some  in  blue  ;  that  some  of  them  hve  on  meat,  and 
8ome  on  fish,  and  some  on  herbs  :  they  have  also  disputes  in  their  schools, 
as  Dr.  Porteus  also  remarks  ;  but  they  both  omit  to  mention,  that  thesf.  tly 
putes  are  not  about  articles  of  faith. 


CLAIM    OF    EXCLUSIVE    SALVATION.  ^09 


LETTER  XVII.— FROM  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ. 

OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  CLAIM  OF  EXCLUSIVE 
SALVATION. 

Reverend  si jl — 

I  AM  too  much  taken  up  myself  with  the  present  subject  of 
your  letters,  willingly  to  interrupt  the  continuation  of  them : 
b  X  some  of  the  gentlemen  who  frequent  New  Cottage,  having 
communicated  your  three  last  to  a  learned  dignitary,  who  13 
upon  a  visit  in  our  neighborhood,  and  he  having  made  certain 
remarks  upon  them,  I  have  been  solicited  by  those  gentlemen 
to  forward  them  to  you.  The  terms  of  our  correspondence 
render  an  apology  from  me  unnecessary,  and  still  more  the  con- 
viction that  I  believe  you  entertain  of  my  being,  with  sincere 
respect  and  regard,  Rev.  sir,  &c. 

James  Brown. 


Extract  of  a  Letter  from  the  Rev. ,  Prebendary  of , 

to  Mr. . 

It  is  well  known  to  many  Roman  Catholic  g-entlemen,  with 
whom  I  have  lived  in  habits  of  social  intercourse,  that  I  was 
always  a  warm  advocate  for  their  emancipation,  and,  that  so 
far  from  having  any  objections  to  their  religion,  I  considered 
their  hopes  of  future  bliss  as  well  founded  as  my  own.  In  re- 
turn, I  thought  I  saw  in  them  a  corresponding  liberality  and 
charity.  But  these  letters  which  you  have  sent  me  from  the 
correspondent  of  your  society  at  Winchester,  have  quite  dis 
gusted  me  with  their  bigotry  and  uncharitableness.  In  opposi. 
tion  to  the  Chrysostoms  and  Augustins,  whom  he  quotes  so  co- 
piously, for  his  doctrine  of  exclusive  salvation,  I  will  place  a 
modern  bishop  of  my  church,  no  way  inferior  to  them,  Dr 
Watson,  who  says :  "  Shall  we  never  be  freed  from  the  nar- 
row-minded contentions  of  bigots,  and  from  the  insults  of  men 
who  know  not  what  spirit  they  are  of,  when  they  stint  the  Omni- 
potent in  the  exercise  of  his  mercy,  and  bar  the  doors  of  heaven 
against  every  sect  but  their  own  "^  Shall  we  never  learn  to 
think  more  humbly  of  ourselves  and  less  despicably  of  others ; 
to  believe  that  the  Father  of  the  universe  accommodates  not  his 
judgments  to  the  wretched  wranglings  of  pedantic  theologues ; 
but  thai  every  one,  who,  with  an  honest  intention,  and  to  thf 
best  of  his  abilities,  seeketh  truth,  whether  he  findeth  it  or  not, 
and  worketh  righteousness,  will  be  accepted  by  him?"*     These, 

*  Bishop  Watson's  The(  log.  Tracts,  Prcf.  p.  1" 
10 


110  LITTER    XVIII. 

sir,  are  exactly  my  sentiments,  as  they  were  those  of  the  illus* 
trious  Hoadle}-,  in  his  celebrated  sermon,  which  had  the  effect 
of  stilling  most  of  the  remaining  bigotry  in  the  Established 
Church.*  There  is  not  any  prayer  which  I  more  frequently  oi 
fervently  repeat,  than  that  of  the  liberal-minded  poet,  who  him- 
self passed  for  a  Roman  Catholic;  particularly  the  following 
stanza  of  it : 

"  Let  not  this  weak  and  erring  hand 
Presume  thy  boUs  to  throw, 
And  deal  damnation  round  the  land 
On  each  I  judge  thy  foe."t 

I  hope  your  society  will  require  its  popish  correspondent,  before 
he  writes  any  more  letters  to  it  on  other  subjects,  to  answer 
what  our  prelate  and  his  "own  poet  have  advanced  against  the 
bigotry  and  uncharitableness  of  excluding  Christians,  of  any 
denomination,  from  the  mercies  of  God  and  everlasting  happi- 
ness. He  may  assign  whatever  marks  he  pleases  of  the  true 
church,  but  I,  for  my  part,  shall  ever  consider  charity  as  the 
only  sure  mark  of  this,  conformably  with  what  Christ  says : 
"By  this  shall  all  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have 
love  one  to  another."  John,  xiii.  35. 


LETTER  XVm.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  &c. 

OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

Dear  sir — 

In  answer  to  the  objections  of  the  reverend  prebendary  to 
my  letters  on  the  mark  of  unity  in  the  true  church,  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  being  incorporated  in  this  church,  I  must  observe,  in 
the  first  place,  that  nothing  disgusts  a  reasoning  divine  more 
than  vague  charges  of  bigotry  and  intolerance ;  inasm^uch  as 
they  have  no  distinct  meaning,  and  are  equally  applied  to  all 
sects  and  individuals,  by  others,  whose  religious  opinions  are 
more  lax  than  their  own.  These  odious  accusations  which  your 
churchmen  bring  against  Catholics,  the  dissenters  bring  against 
you  who  are  equally  loaded  with  tliem  by  the  Deists,  as  these 
are,  in  their  turn,  by  the  Atheists  and  Materialists.     Let  us, 

«  Bishop  Hcadley's  Sermons  on  <Ae  kingdom  of  Christ.  This  made  the 
choice  of  reHgion  a  thing  indifferent,  and  subjected  the  whole  business  of 
religion  to  the  civil  power.  Hence  sprung  the  famous  Bangorian  controvei- 
BV,  which  was  on  the  point  of  ending  in  a  censure  upon  Hoadley  from  the 
Convocation,  when  the  latter  was  interdicted  by  ministry,  and  has  nevei 
iince,  in  the  course  of  a  hundred  years*  been  allowed  to  meet  a^aiu 

t  Yy\\**n  TTnivcnwil  Prayer 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  Ill 

'(.hen,  dear  sir,  in  the  serious  discussions  of  religion,  confine  our- 
selves to  language  of  a  defined  meaning,  leaving  vague  and 
tinsel  terms  to  poets  and  novelists. 

It  seems,  then,  that  Bishop  Watson,  with  the  Rev.  N.  N... 
and  other  fashionable  latitudinarians  of  the  day,  are  indignant 
at  the  idea  of  "  stinting  the  Omnipotent  in  the  exercise  of  his 
mercy,  and  barring  the  doors  of  heaven  against  any  sect,"  hew- 
ever  heterodox  or  impious.  Nevertheless,  in  the  very  passage 
wnioh  1  have  quoted,  they  themselves  stint  this  mercy  to  tho^e 
M  ho  '  work  righteousness,"  which  implies  a  restraint  on  men's 
passions.  Methinks  I  now  hear  some  epicure  Dives  or  elegant 
libertine,  retorting  on  these  liberal,  charitable  divines,  in  their 
own  words :  -" Pedantic  Theologues,  narrow-minded  bigots,  who 
stint  the  Omnipotent  in  the  exercise  of  his  mercy ^  and  har  the  doors 
of  heaven  against  me,  for  following  the  impulse  which  he  him- 
self has  planted  in  me  !"  The  same  language  might,  with 
equal  justice,  be  put  into  the  mouth  of  Nero,  Judas  Iscariot, 
and  of  the  very  demons  themselves.  Tims,  in  pretending  to 
magnify  God's  mercy,  these  men  would  annihilate  his  justice, 
his  sanctity,  and  his  veracity  ! 

Our  business  then  is,  not  to  form  arbitrary  theories  concern- 
ing the  Divine  attributes,  but  to  attend  to  what  God  himself  has 
revealed  concerning  them  and  the  exercise  of  them.  What 
words  can  be  more  express  than  those  of  Christ  on  this  point : 
"  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned  !"  xMark,  xvi.  16  :  or  than  those 
of  St.  Paul :  "  Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God," 
Heb.  xi.  6.  Conformably  with  this  doctrine,  the  same  apostle 
classes  heresies  witli  murder  and  adultery  ;  concerning  which  he 
says  :  they  who  do  such  things  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God,  Gal.  V.  20,  21.  Accordingly,  he  orders  that  a  man  who 
is  a  heretic,  shall  be  rejected,  Tit.  iii.  10 ;  and  the  apostle  of 
charity,  St.  John,  forbids  the  faithful  to  receive  him  into  their 
houses  ;  or  even  to  hid  him  God-speed,  who  bringeth  not  this  doc- 
tnm  of  Christ,  2  John,  i.  10.  This  apostle  acted  up  to  his  rule, 
witlt  respect  to  the  treatment  of  persons  out  of  the  church,  when 
ne  hastHy  withdrew  from  a  public  building,  ir  which  he  met  the 
leretic  Cerinthus,  "  lest,"  as  he  said,  "  it  should  fall  down 
ipon  him."* 

I  have  given,  in  a  former  letter,  some  of  the  numberless  pas- 
.ages,  in  which  the  holy  fathers  speak  home  to  the  present 
»t)int ;  and,  as  these  are  far  more  expressive  and  emphatical 
«lan  what  I  myself  have  said  upon  it,  I  presume  they  have 
chi^  fly  contr  buted  to  excite  the  bile  of  the  reverend  prebendary. 

*  S  Iren.  1  iii.  Euseb.  Hist.  1.  iil 


112  LETTER    XVIII. 

Ffowever  he  may  slight  these  venerable  authorities,  yet  as  I  am 
sure  that  you,  sir,  reverence  them,  I  will,  on  account  of  theii 
peculiar  appositeness  to  the  point  in  question,  add  two  more  si- 
milar quotations  from  the  great  doctor  of  the  fifth  century,  St. 
Augustin.  He  says :  "All  the  assemblies,  or  rathei  divisions, 
who  call  themselves  churches  of  Christ,  but  which,  in  fact, 
have  separated  themselves  from  the  congregation  of  unity,  do 
not  belong  to  the  true  church.  They  might  indeed  belong  to 
her,  if  the  Holy  Ghost  could  be  divided  against  himself;  but  as 
this  is  impossible,  they  do  no;  belong  to  her."*  In  like  manner, 
addressing  himself  to  certain  sectaries  of  his  tin  e,  he  says  :  "  If 
our  communion  is  the  church  of  Christ,  yours  is  not  so :  for  the 
church  of  Christ  is  one,  whichsoever  she  is ;  since  it  is  said  of 
her  :  My  dove,  my  undejiled  is  one  ;  she  is  the  only  one  oj  he? 
mother."  Cantic.  vi.  9. 

But  setting  aside  Scripture  and  tradition,  let  us  consider  this 
matter,  as  Bishop  Watson  and  his  associates  affect  to  consider  it, 
on  the  side  of  natural  reason  alone.  These  modern  philoso- 
phers think  it  absurd  to  suppose,  that  the  Creator  of  the  universe 
concerns  himself  about  what  we  poor  mortals  do  or  do  not  be* 
lieve  ;  or,  as  the  bishop  expresses  himself,  that  he  "  accommo' 
dates  his  judgments  to  the  wrangling  of  pedantic  theologues." 
With  equal  plausibility,  certain  ancient  philosophers  have  rep 
resented  it  as  unworthy  the  Supreme  Being  to  busy  himself 
about  the  actions  of  such  reptiles  as  we  are  in  his  sight ;  and 
thus  have  opened  a  door  to  an  unrestrained  violation  of  his  eter- 
nal and  immutable  laws!  In  opposition  to  both  these  schools,  1 
maintain  as  the  clear  dictates  of  reason  ;  that,  as  God  is  the 
author,  so  he  is  necessarily  the  supreme  Lord  and  Master  of  all 
beings,  with  their  several  powers  and  attributes,  and  therefore 
of  those  noble  and  distinguishing  faculties  of  the  human  soul, 
reason  and  free -mill ; — that  he  cannot  divest  himself  of  this  su- 
preme dominion,  or  render  any  being  or  any  faculty  indepen- 
dent of  himself  or  of  his  high  laws,  any  more  than  he  can  cease 
to  be  God ; — that  of  course,  he  does,  and  must,  require  our 
reason  to  believe  in  his  divine  revelations,  no  less  than  our  will 
fe3  submit  to  his  supreme  commands  ; — that  he  is  just,  no  less 
than  he  is  merciful ; — and  therefore  that  due  atonement  must 
be  made  to  him  for  etery  act  of  disobedience  to  nim,  whether 
by  disbelieving  what  he  has  said,  or  by  disobeying  what  he  has 
ordered.  I  advance  a  step  further,  in  opposition  to  the  Hoadley 
and  Watson  school,  by  asserting,  as  a  self-evident  truth:  that, 
there  being  a  more  deliberate  and  formal  opposition  to  the  Most 
High,  in  sayi  ig,  I  will  not  believe  what  thou  hast  revealea.  than 

•  De  Verb.  Dom.  Serm.  ii 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  118 

m  saying,  I  will  not  'practise  what  thou  hast  commanded  ;  so^ 
tcdens  paribus,  WILFUL  infidelity  and  heresy  involve  greatel 
guilt  than  moral  frailty. 

You  will  observe,  dear  sir,  that  in  the  preceding  passage  I 
have  marked  the  word  wilful,  because  Catholic  divines  and  the 
holy  fathers,  at  the  same  time  that  they  strictly  insist  on  the 
necessity  of  adhering  to  the  doctrine  and  communion  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  make  an  express  exception  in  favor  of  what  is 
termed  invinciMe  ignorance  ;  which  occurs  when  persons  out  of 
the  true  church  are  sincerely  and  firmly  resolved,  in  spite  of 
all  worldly  allurements  on  one  hand,  and  of  all  opposition  on 
the  other,  to  enter  into  it,  if  they  can  find  it  out,  and  when  they 
use  their  best  endeavors  for  this  purpose.  This  exception  in 
favor  of  the  invincibly  ignorant  is  made  by  the  same  St.  Augus- 
tin,  who  so  strictly  insists  on  the  general  rule  above  quoted. 
His  words  are  these  :  "  The  apostle  has  told  us,  to  reject  a  man 
that  is  a  heretic  ;  but  those  who  defend  a  false  opinion,  without 
pertinacious  obstinacy,  especially  if  they  have  not  themselves 
invented  it,  but  have  derived  it  from  their  parents,  and  who 
seek  the  truth,  with  anxious  solicitude,  being  sincerely  disposed 
to  renounce  their  error,  as  soon  as  they  discover  it,  such  per- 
sons are  not  to  be  deemed  heretics."*  Our  great  controvertist, 
Bellarmine,  asserts  that  such  Christians,  "in  virtue  of  the  dis- 
position of  their  hearts,  belong  to  the  Catholic  Church. "f 

Who  the  individuals,  exteriorly  of  other  communions,  but,  by 
the  sincerity  of  their  dispositions,  belonging  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  who,  and  in  what  numbers  they  are,  it  is  for  the 
Searcher  of  hearts,  our  future  judge,  alone  to  determine.  Far 
be  it  from  me  and  from  every  other  Catholic  "  to  deal  damna- 
tion" on  any  person  in  particular! — still  thus  much,  on  the 
grounds  already  stated,  I  am  bound,  not  only  in  truth,  but  also 
in  charity,  to  say  and  to  proclaim,  that  nothing  short  of  this 
sincere  disposition,  and  the  actual  use  of  such  means  as  provi- 
dence respectively  affords  those  who  are  ignorant  of  the  true 
church  for  discovering  it,  can  secure  their  salvation : — to  say 
nothing  ^f  the  Catholic  sacraments  and  other  helps  for  this  pur- 
pose, ol"  which  such  persons  are  unavoidably  deprived. 

I  3ust  mentioned  the  virtue  of  charity :  and  I  must  here  add, 
thai'on  no  one  point  are  latitudinarians  and  genuine  Catholics 
more  at  variance  than  upon  this.  The  former  consider  them- 
selves charitable  in  proportion  as  they  pretend  to  open  the  gate 
of  heaven  to  a  greater  number  of  religionists  of  various  descrip- 
tions ;  but,  unfortunately,  they  are  not  possessed  of  the  keys  of 
thai  gate  ;  and  when  they  fancy  they  have  opened  the  gate  af 

•  Epist.  ad  Episc.  Donat.  t  Controv.  Tom.  ii.  lib.  iii.  c.  6. 

10* 


14  LETTER    XVIII. 

wide  as  possible,  it  still  remains  as  narrow  and  the  wap  to  it  a* 
straight^  as  our  Suviour  describes  them  to  be  in  the  Gospel, 
Matt.  rii.  14.  Thus  they  lull  men  into  a  fatal  indifference 
about  the  truths  of  revelation,  and  a  false  security  of  their  sal- 
vation. Genuine  Catholics,  on  the  other  hand,  are  persuaded 
that,  as  there  is  but  one  God,  one  faith,  and  one  baptism.  Ephes. 
iv.  5,  so  there  is  but  ONE  SHEEPFOLD,  namely  ONE 
CHURCH.  Hence  they  omit  no  opportunity  of  alarming  their 
wandering  brethren,  on  the  danger  they  are  in,  and  of  bringing 
them  into  this  one  fold  of  the  one  Shepherd,  John,  x.  16.  To 
form  a  light  judgment  in  this  case,  we  need  but  ask :  Is  it  char- 
itable or  uncharitable  in  the  physician  to  warn  his  patient  of 
his  danger  in  eating  unwholesome  food  ?  Again,  is  it  charita- 
ble or  uncliaritable  in  the  watchman,  who  sees  the  sword  comings 
to  sound  the  trumpet  of  alarm  ?  Ezech.  xxxiii.  6. 

But  to  conclude,  the  reverend  prebendary  may  continue,  with 
most  modern  Protestants,  to  assign  his  latitudinarianism,  which 
admits  all  religions  to  be  right,  as  a  mark  of  the  truth  of  his 
sect ;  thus  dividing  truth,  which  is  essentially  indivisible  :  yet 
will  the  Catholic  Church  continue  to  maintain,  as  she  ever  has 
maintained,  that  there  is  only  one  faith  and  one  true  church  ; 
and  that  this  her  uncompromising  firmness,  in  retaining  and 
professing  this  unity,  is  the  first  mark  of  her  being  this 
church. — The  subject  admits  of  being  illustiated  by  the  well- 
known  judgment  of  the  wisest  of  men. — Two  women  dwelt  to- 
gether,  eacli  of  whom  had  an  infant  son ;  but,  one  of  these  dying, 
they  both  contended  for  possession  of  the  living  child,  and  car- 
ried their  cause  to  the  tribunal  of  Solomon.  He,  finding  them 
equally  contentious,  ordered  the  infant  they  disputed  about  to 
be  cut  in  two,  and  one  half  of  it  to  be  given  to  each  of  them ; 
which  order  the  pretended  another  agreed  to,  exclaiming :  "  Let 
it  be  neither  mine  nor  thine,  but  divide  it.  Then  spake  the  wo- 
man, whose  the  living  child  was,  unto  the  king  ;  for  her  bowels 
yearned  upon  her  son,  and  she  said :  O,  my  lord,  give  her  the 
living  child,  and  in  no  wise  slay  it.  Then  the  king  answerxjd 
and  said  :  Give  her  the  living  child,  and  in  nowise  slay  it: 
SHE  IS  THE  MOTHER  THEREOF !"  1  Kings,  iii.  26,  27. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  &;c. 

John  Milneb. 


SANCTITY    OF    DOCTRINE.  115 

I.ETT75R  XIX.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  be. 

ON  SANCTITY  OF  DOCTRINE. 
Dear  \.lu — 

The  sec(>nd  mark  by  which  you,  as  well  as  I,  describe  the 
«hurch  in  which  you  profess  to  believe,  when  you  repeat  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  is  that  of  SANCTITY.  We,  each  of  us,  say  ; 
/  believe  in  the  HOLY  Catholic  Church.  Reason  itself  tells  us, 
that  the  God  of  purity  and  sanctity  could  not  institute  a  religion 
destitute  of  this  character,  and  the  inspired  apostle  assures  us 
that  "  Christ  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  for  it ;  that 
he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it,  with  the  washing  of  water,  by 
the  word  ;  that  he  might  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious 
church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle."  Ephes.  v.  25,  27. — The 
comparison  which  I  am  going  to  institute  between  the  Catholic 
Church  and  the  leading  Protestant  societies  on  the  article  of 
sanctity  or  holiness,  will  be  made  on  these  four  heads  :  1st,  the 
doctrine  of  holiness  ; — 2dly,  the  means  of  holiness  ; — 3dly,  the 
fruits  of  holiness; — and  lastly,  the  divine  testimony  of  hoVmess. 

To  consider,  first,  the  doctrine  of  the  chief  Protestant  com- 
munions :  this  is  well  known  to  have  been  originally  grounded 
in  the  pernicious  and  impious  principles,  that  God  is  the  author 
and  necessitating  cause,  as  well  as  the  everlasting  punisher  of 
sin  ; — that  man  has  no  free-will  to  avoid  it ; — and  that  justifi- 
cation and  salvation  are  the  effects  of  an  enihusisLStic  persuasion^ 
under  the  name  of  faith,  that  a  person  is  actually  justified  and 
saved,  independently  of  any  real  belief  in  the  revealed  truths, 
independently  of  hope,  charity,  repentance  for  sin,  benevolence 
to  our  fellow-creatures,  loyalty  to  our  king  and  country,  or  any 
other  virtue ;  all  which  were  censured  by  the  first  reformers  as 
they  are  by  the  strict  Methodists  still,  under  the  name  of  works, 
and  by  many  of  them  declared  to  be  even  hurtful  to  salvation. 
It  is  asserted  in  The  Harmony  of  Confessions,  a  celebrated  work, 
published  in  the  early  times  of  the  Reformation,  that  "  all  the 
confessions  of  the  Protestant  churches  teach  this  primary  arti- 
cle (of  justification)  with  a  holy  consent;"  which  seems  to 
imply,  says  Archdeacon  Blackburn,  "  that  this  was  the  single 
article  in  which  they  all  did  agree."*  Bishop  Warburton  ex- 
pressly declares,  that  "  Protestantism  was  built  upon  it:"f  and 
yet,  "  what  impiety  can  be  more  execrable,"  we  may  justly 
exclaim  with  Dr.  Balguy,  "than  to  make  God  a  tyrant !*':{: 
And  what  lessons  can  be  taught  more  immoral,  than  that  men 
are  not  required  to  repent  of  their  sins  to  obtai  q  their  forgive- 

*  Archdeacon  Blackburn's  Confessional,  p.  16 

t  Doctrine  of  Gracf ,  cited  by  Overton,  p.  31.         \  Discourses,  d.  59 


116  LETTER    XIX. 

ness,  nor  to  love  either  God  or  man  to  be  sure  of  their  sal- 
vation ! 

To  begin  with  the  father  of  the  Reformation :  Luther  teaches 
that  "  G^d  works  the  evil  in  us  as  well  as  the  good,  and  that  the 
great  perfection  of  faith  consists  in  believing  God  to  be  just, 
although,  hy  his  own  will,  he  necessarily  renders  us  worthy  of 
damnation,  so  as  to  seem  to  take  pleasure  in  the  torments  of  the 
miserable.'^*  Again  he  says,  and  repeats  it,  in  his  work  De 
Servo  Arbitrio,  and  his  other  works,  that  "  free-will  is  an  empty 
name  ;"  adding,  "  if  God  foresaw  that  Judas  would  be  a  traitor, 
Judas  necessarily  became  a  traitor ;  nor  was  it  in  his  power  to 
be  otherwise. "•)•  "  Man's  will  is  like  a  horse  :  if  God  sit  upon 
it,  it  goes  as  God  would  have  it ;  if  the  devil  ride  it,  it  goes  as 
the  devil  would  have  it.  Nor  can  the  will  choose  its  rider,  but 
each  of  them  strives  which  shall  get  possession  of  it.":j:  Con- 
formably  to  this  system  of  necessity  he  teaches :  "  Let  this  be 
your  rule  in  interpreting  the  Scriptures — wherever  they  com- 
mand any  good  work,  do  you  understand  that  they  forbid  it ; 
because  you  cannot  perform  it. "§  "Unless  faith  be  without 
the  least  good  work,  it  does  not  justify ;  it  is  not  faith. "||  "  See 
how  rich  a  Christian  is,  since  he  cannot  lose  his  soul,  do  what 
he  will,  unless  he  refuse  to  believe ;  for  no  sin  can  damn  him 
but  unbelief."1F  Luther's  favorite  disciple  and  bottle-compan. 
ion,  Amsdorf,  whom  he  made  Bishop  of  Nauburgh,  wrote  a  book 
expressly  to  prove  that  good  works  are  not  only  unnecessary^ 
but  that  they  are  hurtful  to  salvation,  for  which  doctrine  he 
quotes  his  master's  works  at  large.**  Luther  himself  made  so 
great  account  of  this  part  of  his  system,  which  denies  free-will, 
and  the  utility  and  possibility  of  good  works,  that,  writing  against 
Erasmus  upon  it,  he  affirms  it  to  be  the  hinge  on  which  the 
whole  turns;  declaring  the  questions  about  the  pope's  suprema- 
cy, purgatory,  and  indulgences,  to  be  trifles,  rather  than  sub- 
jects of  controversy. ff  In  a  former  letter,  I  quoted  a  remarkable 
passage  from  this  patriarch  of  Protestantism,  in  which  he  pre- 
tends  to  prophesy,  that  this  article  of  his  shall  subsist  for  ever 
in  spite  of  all  the  emperors,  popes,  kings,  and  devils,  concluding 
thus :  "  If  they  attempt  to  weaken  this  article,  may  heH-fire  ^e 
their  reward.  Let  this  be  taken  for  an  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  made  to  me,  Martin  Luther." 

*  Luth.  Opera,  ed.  Wittemb.  torn.  ii.  fol.  437.    t  De  Serv.  Arbit  fol.  460 
X  Ibid.  torn.  ii.  §  Ibid.  torn.  iii.  fol.  171. 

II  Ibid.  torn,  i.fol.  361.  IT  De  Capdv.  Babyl.  torn.  ii.  fol.  74 

**  See  Efrierley's  Protest.     Apol.  393.     See  also  Mosheim  and  Maclaine 

Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  vi.  pp.  324,  328. 

tt  See  the  passage  extracted  from  ibe  work  De  Seivo  Arbitrio  in  Letten 

10  a  Prebendary,  '  jtter  v. 


SANCTITY    OF    DOCTRINE.  117 

Ilowevftr,  in  spite  of  these  prophecies  and  cursed  of  theif 
fether,  the  Lutherans  in  general,  as  I  have  before  noticed, 
shocked  at  the  impiety  of  this  his  primary  principle,  soon  aban- 
doned it,  and  even  went  over  to  the  opposite  impiety  of  semi- 
Pelagianism,  which  attributes  to  man  the  first  motion,  or  cause 
of  conversion  and  sanctification.  Still,  it  will  always  be  true  to 
say,  that  Lutheranism  itselT  originated  in  the  impious  doctrine 
described  above.*  As  to  the  second  branch  of  the  Reformation, 
Calvinism,  where  it  has  not  sunk  into  latitudinarianism  or  So- 
cinianism,"!"  it  is  still  distinguished  by  this  impious  system.  To 
give  a  few  passages  from  the  works  of  this  second  patriarch  of 
Protestants  :  Calvin  says,  "  God  requires  nothing  oi  us  but  faith  ; 
he  asks  nothing  of  us,  but  that  we  believe. "f  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  assert  that  "  the  will  of  God  makes  all  things  necessary. "§ 
"  It  is  plainly  wrong  to  seek  for  any  other  cause  of  damnation 
than  the  hidden  councils  of  God."||  "  Men,  by  the  fre-e  will  of 
God,  without  any  demerit  of  their  own,  are  predestinated  to  eter- 
nal death. "IT  It  is  useless  to  cite  the  disciples  of  Calvin,  Beza, 
Zanchius,  &c.,  as  they  all  adhere  closely  to  the  doctrine  of  their 
master  ;  still  I  will  give  them  the  following  remarkable  passage 
from  the  works  of  the  renowned  Beza :  "  Faith  is  peculiar  to 
the  elect,  and  consists  in  an  absolute  dependence  each  one  has 
on  the  certainty  of  his  election,  which  implies  an  assurance  of 
his  perseverance.  Hence  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  know 
whether  we  be  predestinated  to  salvation,  not  by  fancy,  but  by 
conclusions  as  certain  as  if  we  had  ascended  into  heaven  to  hear 
it  from  the  mouth  o^  God  himself"**  And  is  there  a  man  that, 
having  been  worked  up  by  such  dogmatizing,  or  by  his  own 
fancy,  to  this  full  assurance  of  his  indefeasible  predestination 
and  impeccability,  can,  under  any  violent  temptation  to  break 
the  laws  of  God  or  man,  be  expected  to  resist  it ! 

After  all  the  pains  which  have  been  taken  of  late  by  Bishop 
Marsh,  and  other  modern  divines  of  the  Church  of  England,  to 
clear  her  from  this  stain  of  Calvinism,  nothing  is  more  certain 
than  that  she  was,  at  firvSt,  deeply  infected  with  it.  The  42  Ar- 
ticles of  Edward  VI.,  and  the  39  Articles  of  Elizabeth,  are  evi- 
dently  grounded  in  that  doctrine  ;|f  which,  however,  is  moie 
expressly  inculcated  in  the  Lambeth  Articles,:]::):  approved  of  by 

*  Bossuel's  Variat.  1.  viii.  pp.  23,  54,  &c.  Mosheim  and  Maclainc,  vol 
V  p.  446.  t  Ibid.  p.  458.  X  Calv.  in  Joan.  vi.  Rom.  i.  Galat.  li. 

§  Instit.  1.  iii.  c.  23.  II  Ibid.  H  Ibid.  I.  iii.  c.  23. 

**  rlxposit.  cited  by  Bossuet,  Variat.  1.  xiv.  pp.  6,  7. 

tt  Particularly  the  11th,  12th,  13tli,  and  17th,  of  the  39  Articles.  By  the 
tenor  of  the  13th  among  the  39,  it  would  appear  tnat  the  patience  of  Socra, 
tes,  the  integrity  of  Aristides,  the  continence  of  Scipio,  and  the  patriotism  of 
Cato,  *'  had  the  nature  of  sin,"  because  they  were  "  works  done  before  the 
grace  of  Christ  »♦  X\  Fuller's  Church  History,  p.  230. 


118  LETTER    XU.. 

the  two  archbishops,  the  Bishop  of  London,  &c.,  in  1595, ''  whose 
testimony,"  says  the  renowned  Fuller,  "  is  an  infallible  e'^idence 
what  was  the  general  and  received  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England  in  that  age  about  the  fore-named  controversies."*  In 
the  History  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  by  this  author,  a 
strict  churchman,  we  have  evident  proof  that  no  other  doctrine 
but  that  of  Calvin  was  so  much  as  tole'snted  by  the  Established 
Church,  at  the  time  I  have  been  speaking  of.  "  One  W.  Barret, 
fellow  of  Gonville  and  Caius  College,  preached  ad  Chrum  for 
his  degree  of  bachelor  in  divinity,  wherein  he  vented  such  doc- 
trines, for  which  he  was  summoned,  six  days  after,  before  the 
Consistory  of  Doctors,  and  there  enjoined  the  following  retracta- 
tion : — 1st,  /  said  that,  No  man  is  so  strongly  underpropped  hi  the 
certainty  of  faith,  as  to  he  assured  of  his  salvation :  but  now,  I 
protest,  before  God,  that  they  which  are  justified  by  faith,  are 
assured  of  their  salvation  with  the  certainty  of  faith. — 3dly,  I  said 
that,  Certainty  concerning  the  time  to  come  is  proud  :  hut  now  I 
protest  i\\BX  justified  faith  can  never  he  rooted  out  of  the  minds  of 
the  faithful. — 6thly,  These  words  escaped  me  in  my  sermon: 
I  helieve  against  Calvin,  Peter  Martyr,  ^c,  that  sin  is  the  trucj 
proper,  and  first  cause  of  reprobation :  but  now,  being  better  in- 
structed, I  say,  that  the  reprobation  of  the  wicked  is  from  everlast- 
ing ;  and  I  am  of  the  same  mind  concerning  election,  as  the 
Church  of  England  teacheth  in  the  articles  of  faith. — Last  of  all, 
I  uttered  these  words  rashly  against  Calvin,  a  man  that  hath 
very  well  deserved  of  the  church  of  God  :  that  he  durst  presume 
to  lift  himself  above  the  High  God  :  by  which  words  I  have  done 
great  injury  to  that  learned  and  right-godly  man.  I  have  also 
uttered  many  bitter  words  against  Peter  Martyr,  Theodore  Beza, 
&c.,  being  the  lights  and  ornaments  of  our  church,  calling  them 
by  the  odious  name  of  Calvinists,"  (fecf  Another  proof  of  the 
former  intolerance  of  the  Church  of  England,  with  respect  to 
the  moderate  system,  which  all  her  present  dignitaries  hold,  is 
the  order  drawn  up  by  the  archbishops  and  bishops  in  1566,  for 
government  to  act  upon  ;  namely,  that  "  All  incorrigible  free- 
will  mm,  &LQ.,  should  be  sent  into  some  castle  in  North  Wales, 
or  at  Wallingford,  there  to  live  on  their  own  labor,  and  no  on«T 
to  be  suffered  to  resort  to  them,  but  their  keepers,  until  they  be 
found  to  repent  their  errors.":f     A  still  stronger,  as  well  as 

•  Fuller,  p.  232. — N.  B.  On  the  point  in  question.  Dr.  Hey,  vol.  iv.  p.  ^ 
quotes  the  well-known  speech  of  the  great  Lord  Chatham  in  parliament : 
"  We  have  a  Calvinistic  creed,  and  an  Arminian  clergy." 

t  Fuller's  Hist,  of  the  Univ.  of  Cambridge,  p.  150. — N.  B.  It  will  be  evi 
dent  to  the  reader  that  I  have  greatly  abridged  this  curious  recantation, 
which  was  too  long  to  be  quoted  in  full. 

t  Strype's  Annals  of  Reform,  vol.  i.  p.  214. 


SANCTITY    OF    DOCTRINE.  IIP 

more  authentic  evidence  of  the  former  Calvinism  of  the  English 
church,  is  furnished  by  the  history  and  acts  of  the  General 
Calvinistic  Synod  of  Dort,  held  against  Vorstius,  the  successor 
of  Arminius,  who  had  endeavored  to  modify  that  impious  sys- 
tem. Our  James  I.,  who  had  the  principal  share  in  assembling 
this  synod,  was  so  indignant  at  the  modification,  that,  in  a  letter 
to  the  States  of  Holland,  he  termed  Vorstius  "  the  enemy  of 
God,"  and  insisted  on  his  being  expelled,  declaring,  at  the  same 
time,  that  "  it  was  his  own  duty,  in  quality  of  Defender  of  the 
Faith,  with  which  title,"  he  said,  "  God  had  honored  him,  to 
extirpate  those  cursed  heresies,  and  to  drive  them  to  hell  !"* 
To  be  brief,  he  sent  Carlton  and  Davenport,* the  foi-mer  being 
Bishop  of  Llandaff,  the  latter  of  Salisbury,  with  two  other  dig- 
nitaries of  the  Church  of  England,  and  Balcanqual,  on  the  part 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  to  the  synod,  where  they  appeared 
among  the  foremost  in  condemning  the  Arminians,  and  in  de- 
fining "  that  God  gives  true  and  lively  faith  to  those  whom  he 
resolves  to  withdraw  from  the  common  damnation,  and  to  them 
dlone  :  and  that  the  true  faithful,  iy  atrocious  crimes,  do  not  for- 
feit the  grace  of  adoption  and  the  state  of  justification  /"f 

It  might  have  been  expected  that  the  decrees  of  this  synod 
would  have  greatly  strengthened  the  system  of  Calvinism  ; 
whereas  it  is  from  its  termination,  which  corresponds  with  the 
concluding  part  of  the  reign  of  James  I.,  that  we  are  to  date 
the  decline  of  it,  especially  in  England.:]:  Still  great  numbers 
of  its  adherents,  under  the  name  of  Calvinists,  professing,  not 
without  reason,  to  maintain  the  original  tenets  of  the  Church  of 
England,  subsist  in  this  country,  and  their  ministers  arrogate 
to  themselves  the  title  of  evangelical  preachers.  In  like  man- 
ner, the  numerous  and  diversified  societies  of  Methodists,  whether 
Wesleyans  or  Whitfieldites,  Moravians  or  Revivalists,  New 
Itinerants  or  Jumpers, §  are  all  partisans  of  the  impious  ana 
immoral  system  of  Calvin.  The  founder  of  the  first-mentioned 
branch  of  these  sectaries,  Wesley,  witnessing  the  follies  and 
crimes  which  flowed  from  it,  tried  to  reform  them  by  means  of 
a  labored  but  groundless  distinction. || 

After  all,  the  first  and  most  sacred  branch  of  holy  doctrine 
consists  in  those  articles  which  God  has  been  pleased  to  reveal 
concerning  his  own  divine  nature  and  operations,  namely,  the 
articles  of  the  unity  and  trinity  of  the  Deity,  and  of  the  incarna- 
tion, death,  and  atonement  of  the  consuhstuntial  Son  of  God.  It 
is  admitted  that  these  mysteries  have  been  abandoned  by  the 

•  Hist.  Abreg.  de  Gerard  Brandt,  torn.  i.  p.  417,  torn.  ii.  p.  2. 

t  Bossuet's  Variat.  vol.  ii.  pp.  291,  294,  304. 

I  Mosheim  and  Maclaine,  vol.  v.  pp.  3G9,  389. 

i  See  Evans'  Sketdi  of  all  Religions.  U  See  Poetsoript,  p.  139. 


121'  LETTER   XIX. 

Protestants  of  Geneva,  Holland,  and  Germany.  With  respect 
to  Scotland,  a  well-informed  writer  says,  "  It  is  certain,  tha« 
Scotland,  like  Geneva,  has  run  from  high  Calvinism,  to  almost 
as  high  Arianism  or  Socinianism :  the  exceptions,  especially  in 
the  cities,  are  few.^'  It  will  be  gathered  from  many  passages, 
which  I  have  cited  in  my  former  letters,  how  widely  extended, 
throughout  the  Established  Church,  is  that  ^' tacit  reform,'^ 
which  a  learned  professor  of  its  theology,  signifies  to  be  the 
•ame  thing  with  Socinianism.  A  judgment  may  also  be  formed 
of  the  prevalence  of  this  system,  by  the  act  of  July  21,  1813, 
exempting  the  professors  of  it  from  the  penalties  to  which  they 
were  before  subject.  And  yet  this  system,  as  I  have  before 
observed,  is  pronounced  by  the  Church  of  England,  in  her  last 
named  canons,  "  a  damnable  and  cursed  heresy,  being  a  com- 
plication of  many  forr»er  heresies,  and  contrariant  to  the  arti- 
cles  of  religion  now  established  in  the  Church  of  England."* 
I  say  nothing  of  the  numerous  Protestant  victims,  who  have 
been  burnt  at  the  stake  in  this  country,  during  the  reigns  of 
Edward  VI.,  Elizabeth,  and  James  I.,  for  the  Arian  and  Socin- 
ian  errors  in  question,  except  to  censure  the  inconsistency  and 
cruelty  of  the  proceeding  :  all  that  I  have  occasion  to  show  is^ 
that  most  Protestants,  and  among  the  rest,  those  of  the  English 
church,  instead  of  uniformly  maintaining  at  all  times  the  same 
holy  doctrine,  heretofore  abetted  an  acknowledged  impious  and 
immoral  system,  namely,  Calvinism,  which  they  have  since 
been  constrained  to  reject ;  and  that  they  have  now  compro- 
mised with  impieties,  which  formerly  they  condemned  a." 
'^  damnable  heresies,"  and  punished  with  fire  and  fagot. 

But  it  is  time  to  speak  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
If  this  was  once  holy,  namely,  in  the  apostolic  age,  it  is  holy 
sail ;  because  the  church  never  changes  her  doctrine,  nor  suf- 
fers any  persons  in  her  communion  to  change  it,  or  to  question 
any  part  of  it.  Hence  the  adorable  mysteries  of  the  trinity, 
the  incarnation,  &c.,  taught  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  de- 
fined by  the  four  first  general  councils,  are  now  as  firmly  be- 
lieved by  every  real  Catholic,  throughout  her  whole  communion, 
as  they  were  when  those  councils  were  held.  Concerning  the 
article  of  man's  justification,  so  far  from  holding  the  impious 
and  absurd  doctrines  imputed  to  her  by  her  unnatural  children, 
(who  sought  for  a  pretext  to  desert  her,)  she  rejects,  she  con- 
demns, she  anathematizes  them  !  It  is  then  false,  and  notori- 
ously false,  that  Catholics  believe,  or  in  any  age  did  believe, 
tjiat  they  could  justify  themselves  by  their  own  proper  merits; 
—or  that  tbey  can  do  the  least  good,  in  the  order  of  salvation, 

*  CoDBtit.  and  Can.  A.D  1640. 


SANCTITY    OF    DOCTRINE.  121 

without  the  grace  of  God,  merited  for  them  by  Jctas  Christ  ;— 
or  that  we  can  deserve  this  grace,  by  any  thing  we  have  tlie 
power  of  doing : — or  that  leave  to  commit  sin,  or  even  the  par- 
don of  any  sin  which  has  been  committed,  can  be  purchased  of 
any  person  whomsoever  ; — or  that  the  essence  of  religion  and 
our  hopes  of  salvation  consist  in  forms  and  ceremonies,  or  in 
oilier  exterior  things. — These  and  other  calumnies,  or  rather 
blasphemies,  of  a  similar  nature,  however  frequently  or  confi- 
dently repeated  in  popular  sermons  and  controversial  tracts, 
there  is  reason  to  think  are  not  really  believed  by  any  Protest- 
ant of  learning.*  In  fact,  what  ground  is  there  for  maintaining 
them  ?  Have  they  been  defined  by  our  councils  ?  No  :  they 
have  been  condemned  by  them,  and  particularly  by  that  of 
Trent.  Are  they  taught  in  our  catechisms,  such  as  the  Cate- 
chismus  ad  Parochus,  the  General  Catechism  of  Ireland,  the 
Doway  Catechism  ;  or  in  our  books  of  devotion  ;  for  example, 
in  those  written  by  an  a  Kempis,  a  Sales,  a  Granada,  and  a 
Challoner  ?  No  :  the  contrary  doctrine  is,  in  these,  and  in  our 
oiriT  ooks,  uniformly  maintained. — In  a  word,  the  Catholic 
C/iui  I  teaches,  and  ever  has  taught,  her  children  to  trust  for 
mei>D ' ,  grace,  and  salvation,  to  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ.  Nev- 
ertha:i3s,  she  asserts  that  we  have  free-will,  and  that  this,  being 
prevt  ited  by  divine  grace,  can  and  must  cooperate  to  our  justi- 
cation  by  faith,  sorrow  for  our  sins,  and  other  corresponding  acts 
of  vi.'tue,  which  God  will  not  fail  to  bestow  upon  us,  if  we  do 
not  throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  them.  Thus  is  all  honor  anc. 
merit  ascribed  to  the  Creator,  and  every  defect  and  sin  attribu- 
ted to  the  creature.  The  Catholic  Church  inculcates  moreover 
'.he  indispensable  necessity  of  humility,  as  the  ground-work  of 
all  virtues,  by  which,  says  St.  Bernard,  "  from  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  ourselves  we  become  little  in  our  own  estimation.'* 
[  mention  this  Catholic  lesson,  in  particular,  because,  however 
strongly  it  is  enforced  by  Christ  and  his  disciples,  it  seems  to 
be  entirely  overlooked  by  Protestants  ;  insomuch  that  they  are 
perpetually  boasting  in  their  speeches  and  writings  of  the  oppo- 
fite  vice,  pride.  In  like  manner,  it  appears  from  the  above- 
mer.tioned  catechisms  and  spiritual  works,  what  pains  our 
church  bestows,  in  regulating  the  interior  no  less  than  the  e-xte- 

*  The  Norrisian  Professor,  Dr.  Hey,  says,  "  The  Reformed  have  departed 
■o  much  trom  the  rigor  of  their  doctrine  about  faith,  and  the  Romanists  tVom 
theirs  about  gooc  works,  that  there  seems  very  little  difference  between 
ihem."  Lect.  vol.  iii.  p.  262.  True,  most  of  the  reformers,  after  building 
their  religion  on  faith  alone,  have  now  gone  into  tne  opposite  heresy  of  Pe- 
lagiartism,  or  at  least  Semi-pelagianism ;  but  Catholics  hold  exactly  the 
same  tenets  regarding  good  works  which  they  ever  held,  and  which  were 
•  ways  very  different  froin  what  Dr.  Hey  describes  them  to  have  been.  VoL 
>       261. 

U 


123  LETTER    XIX. 

lior  of  her  children,  by  repressing  every  thought  or  idea  contrary 
to  religion  or  morality;  of  which  matter,  I  perceive  little  or  no 
notice  is  taken  in  the  catechisms  and  tracts  of  Protestants. 
Fmally,  the  Catholic  Church  insists  upon  the  necessity  of  being 
"  perfect  even  as  our  heavenly  Father  is  perfect,"  Matt.  v.  48, 
by  such  an  entire  subjugation  of  our  passions,  and  a  conformity 
of  our  will  with  that  of  God,  that  our  conversation  may  be  m 
heaven,  ^^  hile  we  are  yet  living  here  on  earth.  Philip,  v.  20. 
*4»-JL  I  ani,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


^/ 


fBV  OF  GV     POSTSCRIPT  TO  LETTER  XIX. 

"^T^HEfXiife  of  the  late  Rev.  John  Wesley,  founder  of  the  Meth- 
odistSj  which  has  been  written  by  Dr.  Whitehead,  Dr.  Coke,  and 
others  of  his  disciples,  shows,  in  the  clearest  light,  the  errors 
and  contradictions  to  which  even  a  sincere  and  religious  mind 
is  subject,  that  is  destitute  of  the  clue  to  revealed  truth,  the  liv- 
ing authority  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  as  also  the  impiety  and 
immorality  of  Calvinism.  At  first,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  year 
1729,  Wesley  was  a  modern  Church-of-England-man,  distin- 
guished  from  other  students  at  Oxford  by  nothing  but  a  more 
strict  and  methodical  form  of  life.  Of  course,  his  doctrine  then 
was  the  prevailing  doctrine  of  that  church  ;  this  he  preached  in 
England,  and  carried  with  him  to  America,  whither  he  sailed 
to  convert  the  Indians.  Returning,  however,  to  England  in 
1738,  he  writes  as  follows  :  "  For  many  years  I  have  been 
tossed  about  by  various  winds  of  doctrine,"  the  particulars  of 
which,  and  of  the  different  schemes  of  salvation  which  he  m  as 
inclined  to  trust  in,  he  details.  Falling,  however,  at  last,  into 
the  hands  of  Peter  Bohler  and  his  Moravian  brethren,  who  met 
in  Fetter-lane,  he  became  a  warm  proselyte  to  their  system : 
declaring,  at  the  same  time,  with  respect  to  his  past  religion, 
that,  hitherto  he  had  been  a  Papist  without  knowing  it.  We  may 
judge  of  his  ardor  by  his  exclamation  when  Peter  Bohler  left 
England  :  '  C  what  a  work  hath  God  begun  since  his  (Bohler's) 
coming  to  England  ;  such  a  one  as  shall  never  come  to  an  end 
till  heaven  aid  earth  shall  pass  away."  To  cement  his  union 
inith  this  society,  and  to  instruct  himself  more  fully  in  its  mys- 
teries, he  made  a  journey  to  Hernhuth  in  Moravia,  which  is  the 
chief  seat  of  the  United  Brethren.  It  was  whilst  he  was  a  Mo 
ravian,  namely,  "  on  the  24th  of  May,  1738,  a  quartei  of  an 
hour  before  nine  in  the  evening,"  that  John  Wesley,  by  liis  own 
account,  was  "  saved  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death."  This  all- 
important  event  happened  ''at  a  meetiig-hoii.se,  ir  Aldersgaie 


SiNCTITT    OF    DOCTRINE.  123 

Street,  while  a  pei'son  was  reading  Luther's  Preface  to  the  Ga 
latians."  Nevertheless,  though  he  had  professed  such  deep  ob 
ligations  to  the  Moravians,  he  soon  found  out  and  declared  tha: 
theirs  was  not  the  right  way  to  heaven.  In  fact,  he  found  them^ 
*'  and  nine  parts  in  ten  of  the  Methodists"  who  adhered  to  them, 
"swallowed  up  in  the  dead  sea  of  stillness,  opposing  the  ordi- 
nances, namely,  prayer,  reading  the  Scripture,  frequenting  the 
sacrament  and  public  worship,  selling  their  Bibles,  &c.,  in  ordei 
to  rely  more  fully  '  on  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.'  "  In  short, 
Wesley  abandoned  the  Moravian  connection,  and  set  up  that 
which  is  properly  his  own  religion,  as  it  is  detailed  by  Nightin- 
gale in  his  Portraiture  of  Methodism.  This  happened  in  1740, 
soon  after  which  he  broke  off  from  his  rival  Whitfield.  In  fact, 
they  maintained  quite  opposite  doctrines  on  several  essential 
points  :  still  the  tenet  of  instantaneous  justification,  without  ve 
pentance,  charity,  or  other  good  works,  and  the  actual  feeling 
and  certainty  of  this  and  of  everlasting  happiness,  continued  to 
be  the  essential  and  vital  principles  of  Wesley's  system,  as  they 
are  of  the  Calvinistic  sects  in  general  ;  till  having  witnessed 
the  horrible  impieties  and  crimes  to  which  it  conducted,  he,  at 
a  conference  or  synod  of  his  preachers,  in  1744,  declared  that 
he  and  they  had  "  leaned  too  much  to  Calvinism  and  Antino. 
mianism."  In  answer  to  the  question  :  "  What  is  Antinomian- 
ism  ?"  Wesley,  in  the  same  conference,  answers  :  "  The  doc- 
trine which  makes  void  the  law  through  faith.  Its  main  pillars 
are,  that  Christ  abolished  the  moral  law  ; — that,  therefore, 
Christians  are  not  obliged  to  keep  it ; — that  Christian  liberty,  is 
liberty  from  obeying  the  commands  of  God  ; — that  it  is  bond- 
age to  do  a  thing  because  it  is  commanded,  or  forbear  it  because 
it  is  forbidden  ; — that  a  believer  is  not  obliged  to  use  the  ordi- 
nances of  God,  or  to  do  good  works  ; — that  a  preacher  ought 
not  to  exhort  to  good  works,"  &c.  See  here  the  essential  moral- 
ity of  religion  which  Wesley  had  hitherto  followed  and  preach- 
ed, as  drawn  by  his  own  pen,  and  which  still  continues  to  be 
preached  by  the  other  sects  of  Methodists  !*  We  shall  hereafter 
see  in  what  manner  he  changed  it.  The  very  mention,  how- 
ever, of  a  change  in  this  ground-work  of  Methodism,  startled  all 
the  other  Methodist  connections.     Accordingly,  the  Hon.  and 

*  The  Wesleyan  Methodists  deny  that  the  Whitjieldites,  now  called  Lady 
Huntingdon's  Connection,  the  Kilhamites,  &c.,  have  a  right  to  the  name  of 
Methodists ;  though  certainly  George  Whitfield,  when  a  fellow  student  with 
John  Wef.ley  at  Oxford,  was,  equally  with  him,  termed  a  Methodist  at  their 
setting  out.  They  also  deny  that  the  Rev.  Mi  Coke  is  their  head,  or  has  any 
jurisdiction  over  them  in  England,  though  they  ullow  him  to  be  a  bishop  over 
their  brethren  in  America  ;  havmg  been  consecrated,  they  say,  for  that  de. 
partmetit  by  their  celebrated  father,  the  Rev.  John  Wesley. 


124  LETTER    XIX. 

Rev.  Mr.  Shirley,  chaplain  to  Lady  Huntingdon,  in  a  circular 
letter,  written  at  her  desire,  declared  against  the  dreadful  heresy 
of  Wesley,  which,  as  he  expresses  himself,  ^^  injured  the  founda' 
Hon  of  Christianity.^^  He,  therefore,  summoned  another  confer- 
ence, which  severely  censured  Wesley.  On  the  other  hand, 
this  patriarch  was  strongly  supported,  particularly  hy  Fletcher 
of  Madcley,  an  able  writer,  whom  he  had  destined  to  succeed 
him,  as  the  head  of  his  connection.  Instead  of  being  offended 
at  his  master's  change,  Fletcher  says  :  "  I  admire  the  candor 
of  an  old  man  of  God,  who,  instead  of  obstinately  maintaining 
an  old  mistake,  comes  down  like  a  little  child,  and  acknow- 
ledges it  before  his  preachers,  whom  it  is  his  interest  to  secure." 
The  same  Fletcher  published  seven  volumes  of  Checks  to  Anti- 
nomianism,  in  vindication  of  Wesley's  change  in  this  essential 
point  of  his  religion.  In  these  he  brings  the  most  convincing 
proofs  and  examples  of  the  impiety  and  immorality  to  which  the 
enthusiasm  of  Antinomian  Calvinism  had  conducted  the  Meth- 
odists. He  mentions  a  highwayman,  lately  executed  in  his 
neighborhood,  who  vindicated  his  crimes  upon  this  principle. 
He  mentions  other  more  odious  instances  of  wickedness,  which, 
to  his  knowledge,  had  flowed  from  it.*  All  these,  he  says,  are 
represented  by  their  preachers  to  be  "  damning  sins  in  Turks 
and  pagans,  but  only  spots  in  God's  children."  He  adds, 
"  There  are  few  of  our  celebrated  pulpits,  where  more  has  not 
been  said  for  sin  than  against  it .'"  He  quotes  an  honorable 
M.  P.,  "  once  my  brother,"  he  says,  "  but  now  my  opponent," 
who  in  his  published  treatise,  maintains,  "  that  murder  and 
adultery  do  not  hurt  the  pleasant  children,  (the  elected,)  but 
work  even  for  their  good  :"  adding,  "  My  sins  may  displease 
God,  my  person  is  always  acceptable  to  him. — Though  I  should 
out-sin  Manasses  himself,  I  should  not  be  less  a  pleasant  child, 
because  God  always  views  me  in  Christ. — Hence,  in  the  midst 
of  adulteries,  murders,  and  incest,  he  can  address  me  with : 
Thou  art  all  fair,  my  love,  my  undefiled  ;  there  is  no  spot  in 
thee. — It  is  a  most  pernicious  error  of  the  schoolmen  to  distin- 
guish sins  according  to  the  fact,  not  according  to  the  person.— 
Though  I  highly  blame  those  who  say,  let  us  sin  tliat  grace  may 
ahouiid  ;  yet  adultery,  incest,  and  murder,  shall,  upon  the  whole, 
make  me  holier  on  earth  and  merrier  in  heaven  !"•("  It  only  re- 
mains to  show  in  what  manner  Wesley  purified  his  religious 
eystem,  as  he  thought,  from  the  defilement  of  Antinomianism. 
To  be  brief,  he  invented  a  two-fold  mode  of  justification,  one 
without  repentance,  the  love  of  God,  or  other  works;  the  other, 

*  See  Fletcher,  vol.  ii. 

t  The  Hon.  Richard  Hill,  in  his  Five  Leitera.    See  also  Eaton's  Honey* 
tomh  uf  Salvation. 


MEANS    OF    SANCTITY.  125 

in  which  these  works  are  essential :  the  former  is  for  those  who 
die  soon  after  their  pretended  experience  of  saving  faith,  the 
latter  for  those  who  have  time  and  opportunity  of  performing 
them.  Thus,  to  say  no  more  of  the  system,  a  Nero  and  a 
Robespierre  might,  according  to  its  doctrine,  have  been  estab- 
lished in  the  grace  of  God,  and  in  a  right  to  the  realms  of  in- 
finite purity,  without  one  act  of  sorrow  for  their  enormities,  or 
so  m  uch  as  an  act  of  their  belief  in  God  ! 


LETTER  XX.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.  &o 
ON  THE  MEANS  OF  SANCTITY. 

I/EAR  SIR 

The  efficient  cause  of  justification,  or  sanctity,  according  to 
the  Council  of  Trent,*  is  the  mercy  of  God  through  the  merits 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  still,  in  the  usual  economy  of  his  grace,  he 
makes  use  of  certain  instruments  or  means,  both  for  conferring 
and  increasing  it.  The  principal  and  most  efficacious  of  these 
are  THE  SACRAMENTS.  Fortunately,  the  Established 
Church  agrees  in  the  main  sense  with  the  Catholic  and  most 
other  Christian  churches,  when  she  defines  a  sacrament  to  be 
"  An  outward  and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace, 
given  unto  us,  and  ordained  by  Christ  himself,  as  a  means 
whereby  we  receive  the  same,  and  a  pledge  to  assure  us 
thereof. "f  But  though  she  agrees  with  other  Protestant  com- 
munions  in  reducing  the  number  of  these  to  two,  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  supper,  she  difiers  with  all  others  in  this  particular, 
namely,  with  the  Catholic,  the  Greek,  the  Russian,  the  Arme- 
nian,  the  Nestorian,  the  Eutychian,  the  Coptic,  the  Ethiopian, 
&c.,  all  of  which  firmly  maintain,  and  ever  have  maintained, 
as  well  since,  as  before  their  respective  defections  from  us,  the 
whole  collectior  of  the  seven  sacraments.^  This  fact  alone  re- 
futes the  airy  speculations  of  Protestants  concerning  the  origin 
of  the  five  sacraments  which  they  reject,  and  thus  demonstrates 
that  they  are  deprived  of  as  mai  v  divinely  instituted  instruments 
or  means  of  sanctity. — As  each  of  these  seven  channels  of  grace, 

*  Sess.  vi.  cap.  7. 

t  Catechism  in  Com.  Prayer. — N.  B.  The  last  clause  in  this  definition  if 
far  too  strong,  as  it  seems  to  imply,  that  every  person  who  is  partaker  of  the 
outward  part  of  a  sacrament,  necessarily  receives  the  grace  of  it,  whatever 
may  be  his  dispositions ;  an  impiety  which  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  calumni. 
ously  attributes  to  the  Catholics. — Elements  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  p.  436. 

t  This  important  fact  is  incontrovertibjy  proved  in  the  celebrated  work. 
La  Ferpetuite  de  la  Poi,  from  original  docun  ents  procured  by  Louis  XIV 
and  preserved  in  the  King's  Library  at  Paris 

11* 


126  LETTER    XX. 

thouoh  d,\  supplied  from  the  same  fountain  of  Christ's  merits, 
supplies  ?ach  of  them  a  separate  grace,  adapted  to  the  oifferent 
wants  of  ihe  faithful,  and  as  each  of  them  furnishes  matter  of 
observation  for  the  present  discussion,  I  shall  take  a  cursory 
view  of  them. 

The  first  sacrament,  in  point  of  order  and  necessity,  is  bap. 
tism.  In  fact,  no  authority  can  be  more  express  than  that  of 
the  Scripture  as  to  this  necessity.  "  Except  a  man  be  born  of 
water  and  of  the  Spirit,"  says  Christ,  "  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God."  John,  iii.  5.  "  Repent,"  cries  St.  Peter; 
•'  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  for 
the  remission  of  sins."  Acts,  ii.  38.  "  Arise,"  answered  Ana- 
nias to  St.  Paul,  "  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins." 
Acts,  xxii.  16.  This  necessity  was  heretofore  acknowledged  by 
the  Church  of  England,  at  least,  as  appears  from  her  articles, 
and  still  more  clearly  from  her  Liturgy*  and  the  works  of  her 
eminent  divines. f  Hence,  as  baptism  is  valid,  by  whomsoever 
it  is  conferred,  the  English  church  may  be  said  to  have  been 
upon  an  equal  footing  with  the  Catholic  Church,  as  much  as 
concerns  this  instrument  or  means  of  holiness.  But  the  case  is 
different  now,  since  that  tacit  reformation  which  is  acknowledged 
to  have  taken  place  in  her  practice.  This  has  nearly  swept  out 
of  her  both  the  belief  of  original  sin  and  its  necessary  remedy, 
baptism.  "  That  we  are  born  guilty,"  the  great  authority.  Dr. 
Balguy,  says,  "  is  either  unintelligible  or  impossible."  Accord- 
ingly,  he  teaches  that  "  the  rite  of  baptism  is  no  more  than  a 
representation  of  our  entrance  into  the  church  of  Christ." — Else- 
where he  says :  "  The  sign  (of  a  sacrament)  is  declaratory,  not 
efficient.''^  Dr.  Hey  says,  the  negligence  of  the  parent,  with 
respect  to  procuring  baptism,  "  may  affect  the  child :  to  say  it 
will  affect  him,  is  to  run  into  the  error  I  am  condemning. "§ 
Even  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  calls  it,  "  An  unauthorized  principle 
of  papists,  tliat  no  person  whatsoever  can  be  saved  who  has  not 
been  baptized. "||  Where  the  doctrine  of  baptism  is  so  lax,  we 
may  be  sure  the  practice  of  it  will  not  be  more  strict.  Accord- 
ingly, we  have  abundant  proofs  that,  from  the  frequent  and  long 
delays  in  the  administration  of  this  sacrament  among  Protest, 
ants,  very  many  children  die  without  receiving  it,  and  that 

•  Common  Prayer. 

t  See  B.  Pearson  on  the  Creed,  Art.  x.  Hooker,  Eccl.  Polit.  b.  v.  p.  60. 

*  Charge  \A.  pp.298,  300.  §  Lectures  in  Divinity,  vol.  iii.  p.  132. 

II  Vol.  ii.  p.  470.  The  learned  prelate  can  hardly  be  supposed  ignorant 
that  many  of  our  martyrs,  recorded  in  our  Martyrology  and  our  Breviary,  are 
expressly  declared  not  to  have  been  actually  baptized ;  or  that  our  divines 
unanimously  teach,  that  not  only  the  baptism  of  blood  by  martyrdom,  bu* 
ftlso  a  sincere  desire  of  being  baptized,  sufHces,  where  the  me^ns  of  baptism 
•re  wanting. 


MEANS    OF    SANCTITY.  121 

from  the  negligence  of  their  ministers,  as  to  the  right  matter  and 
the  form  of  wcrds,  many  more  children  recei\e  it  in  validly. 
Look,  on  the  other  hand,  at  the  Catholic  Church ;  you  will  find 
the  same  importance  still  attached  to  this  sacred  rite,  on  tho 
part  of  the  people  and  the  clergy,  which  is  observable  in  th«s 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  in  the  writings  of  the  holy  fathers ;  the 
former  being  ever  impatient  to  have  their  children  baptized,  the 
latter  equally  solicitous  to  administer  it  in  due  time,  and  with 
I  he  most  scruj)ulous  exactness.  Thus,  as  matters  now  stand, 
the  two  churches  are  not  upon  a  level  with  respect  to  this  firat 
means  of  sanctification  ;  the  members  of  the  one  having  a  much 
greater  moral  certainty  of  the  remission  of  that  sin  in  which  we 
wf  re  all  born,  and  of  their  having  been  heretofore  actually  re- 
ceived into  the  church  of  Christ,  than  the  members  of  the  other. 
It  would  be  too  tedious  a  task  to  treat  of  the  tenets  of  other  Pro- 
testants, on  this  and  the  corresponding  matters :  let  it  suffice  to 
say,  that  the  famous  Synod  of  Dort,  representing  all  the  Calvin- 
istic  states  of  Europe,  formally  decided  that  the  children  of  the 
elect  are  included  in  the  covenant  made  with  their  parents,  and 
thus  are  exempt  from  the  necessity  of  baptism,  as  likewise  of 
faith  and  morality,  being  thus  insured,  themselves  and  all  their 
posterity,  till  the  end  of  time,  of  their  justification  and  salvation  !* 

Concerning  the  second  channel  of  grace,  or  means  of  sanctity, 
corifirmaiion,  there  is  no  question.  The  Church  of  England, 
which,  among  the  different  Protestant  societies,  alone,  I  believe, 
lays  claim  to  any  part  of  this  rite,  under  the  title  of  The  cere- 
mony of  laying  on  of  hands,  expressly  teaches,  at  the  same  time, 
that  it  is  no  sacrament,  as  not  being  ordained  by  God,  nor  any 
effectual  sign  ofgrace.\  But  the  Catholic  Church,  instructed  by 
the  solicitude  of  the  apostles,  to  strengthen  the  faith  of  those  her 
children  who  had  received  it  in  baptism,:]:  and  by  the  lessons  of 
Christ  himself,  concerning  the  importance  of  receiving  that 
Holy  Spirit,  which  is  communicated  in  this  sacrament, §  reli- 
giously retains  and  faithfully  administers  it  to  them,  for  the 
self-same  purpose,  through  all  ages.  In  a  word,  those  who  are 
true  Christians,  by  virtue  of  baptism,  are  not  made  perfect 
Christians,  except  by  virtue  of  the  sacrament  of  confirmation, 
which  none  of  the  Protestant  societies  so  much  as  lays  a  claim  lo. 

Of  the  third  sacram.ent,  indeed,  the  Lord's  supper,  as  tliey 
call  it,  the  Protestant  societies,  and  particularly  the  Church  of 
England,  in  her  prayer-book,  say  great  things :  nevertheless, 
what  is  it,  after  all,  upon  her  own  showing  ? — Mere  breid  and 
wine  received  in  memory  of  Christ  s  passion  and  death,  in  ordef 

•  Boss  let's  Variat.  book  xiv.  p.  46  t  Art.  xxv. 

(  Acts  V  ii.  14. — xix.  2.  ^  John,  xvi 


129  LETTER    XX. 

to  ex3i;e  the  receiver's  faith  in  him :  that  is  to  say,  it  it  «  bare 
tyjje  01  memorial  of  Christ.  Any  thing  may  be  instituted  to  be 
the  type  or  memorial  of  another  thing ;  but  certainly  the  Jews, 
in  their  paschal  lamb,  had  a  more  lively  figure  of  the  death  of 
Christ,  and  so  have  Christians  in  each  of  the  four  evangelists, 
than  eating  bread  and  drinking  wine  can  be.  Hence,  I  infer, 
that  the  communion  of  Protestants,  according  to  their  belief  and 
I  ractice  in  tnis  country,  cannot  be  more  than  a  feeble  excite 
ment  to  their  devotion,  and  an  inefficient  help  to  their  sancti.i- 
calion. — But,  if  Christ  is  to  be  believed  upon  his  own  solemn 
declaration,  where  he  says,  "  Take  ye  and  eat ;  this  is  my 
body: — drink  ye  all  of  this;  for  this  is  my  blood,"  Matt. 
XX vi.  26 ; — "  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink 
indeed,"  John,  vi.  56  ;  then  the  holy  communion  of  Catholics 
is,  beyond  all  expression  and  all  conception,  not  only  the  most 
powerful  stimulative  to  our  faith,  our  hope,  our  love,  and  our 
contrition,  but  also  the  most  efficacious  means  of  obtaining  these 
and  all  other  graces  from  the  Divine  bounty.  Those  Catholics 
who  frequent  this  sacrament  with  the  suitable  dispositions,  are 
the  best  judges  of  the  truth  of  what  I  here  say:  nevertheless, 
many  Protestants  have  been  converted  to  the  Catholic  Church 
from  the  ardent  desire  they  felt  of  receiving  their  Saviour  Christ 
himself  into  their  bosoms,  instead  of  a  bare  memorial  of  him, 
and  from  a  just  conviction  of  the  spiritual  benefits  they  would 
derive  from  this  intimate  union  with  him. 

The  four  remaining  instruments  of  grace,  penance,  extreme 
unction,  order,  and  matrimony,  Protestants,  in  general,  give  up 
to  us,  no  less  than  confirmation.  The  Bishop  of  Lincoln,*  Dr. 
Hey,f  and  other  controvertists,  pretend  that  it  was  Peter  Lom- 
bard, in  the  twelfth  century,  who  made  sacraments  of  them. 
True  it  is,  that  this  industrious  theologian  collected  together  the 
difl^erent  passages  of  the  fathers,  and  arranged  them,  with  proper 
definitions  of  each  subject,  in  their  present  scholastic  order: 
this  he  did  not  only  with  respect  to  the  sacraments,  but  likewise 
to  the  other  branches  of  divinity,  on  which  account  he  is  called 
the  master  of  the  sentences  : — but  Peter  Lombard  could  as  soon 
have  introduced  Mahoinetanism  into  the  church,  as  the  beliel 
of  any  one  sacrament,  which  it  had  not  before  received  as  such. 
Besides,  supposing  him  to  have  deceived  the  Latin  Church  into 
this  belief,  I  ask  by  what  means  were  the  schismalical  Greek 
churches  fascinated  into  it  ?  In  short,  though  these  holy  rites 
had  not  been  indued  by  Christ  with  a  sacramental  grace,  yet, 
practised  as  they  are  in  the  Catholic  Church,  they  would  still 
be  great  helps  to  piety  and  Christian  morality. 

♦  Elem.  vol.  ii.  p.  414.  t  Lect  vol.  iv.  p.  199 


MEANS    OF    SANCTll  '.  149 

What  I  have  just  asserted  concerning  these  five  sacraments 
in  general,  is  particularly  true  with  respect  to  the  sacrament 
of  penan:e.  For  what  does  this  consist  of  ?  and  what  is  the 
preparatior  of  it,  as  set  forth  by  all  our  councils,  catechisms, 
and  prayer-books?  There  must  first  be  fervent  prayer  to  God 
for  his  light  and  strength  ;  next  an  impartial  examination  of  the 
conscience,  to  acquire  that  most  important  of  all  sciences,  tlie 
knowledge  of  ourselves  :  then  true  sorrow  for  our  sins,  with  A 
firm  purpose  of  amendment,  which  is  the  most  essential  part  of 
the  sacrament.  After  this  there  must  be  a  sincere  exposure  of 
the  state  of  the  interior  to  a  confidential,  and  at  the  same  time, 
a  learned,  experienced,  and  disinterested  director.  If  the  latter 
could  afford  no  other  benefit  to  his  penitents,  yet  how  inestima- 
ble a  one  is  it,  to  make  known  to  them  many  defects  and  many 
duties,  which  their  self-love  had  probably  overlooked  !  as  like- 
wise his  prescribing  to  them  the  proper  remedies  for  their  spirit- 
'jal  maladies!  and  his  requiring  them  to  make  restitution  for 
2very  injury  done  to  each  injured  neighbor  !  But  we  are  well 
assured,  that  these  are  far  from  being  the  only  benefits,  which 
the  minister  of  this  sacrament  confers  upon  the  subject  of  it:  for 
it  was  not  an  empty  compliment  which  Christ  paid  to  his  apos- 
tles, when,  "  Breathing  on  them,  he  said  to  them  ;  Receive  ye 
the  Holy  Ghost:  whose  sins  you  shall  remit,  they  are  remitted, 
and  whose  sins  you  shall  retain,  they  are  retained."  John,  xx. 
22,  23.  O  sweet  balm  of  the  wounded  spirit!  O  sovereiijn  re- 
storative of  the  soul's  life  and  vigor!  best  known  to  those  who 
faithfully  use  thee,  and  not  unattested  by  those  who  neglect  and 
blaspheme  thee  !* 

It  might  appear  strange,  if  we  were  not  accustomed  to  similar 
inconsistencies,  that  those  who  profess  to  make  Scripture,  in  its 
plain,  obvious  sense,  the  sole  rule  of  their  faith  and  practice, 
should  deny  extreme  unction  to  be  a  sacrament,  the  external  sign 
of  which,  anointing  the  sick,  and  the  spiritual  effect  of  which, 
the  forgiveness  of  sins,  are  so  expressly  declared  by  St.  James, 
in  his  epistle,  v.  14.  Martin  Luther,  indeed,  who  had  taken 
offence  at  this  epistle,  for  its  insisting  so  strongly  on  good  works,"f 
rejected  the  authority  of  this  epistle,  alleging  that  it  was  "  not 
lawful  for  an  apostle  to  institute  a  sacrament. J  But  I  trust 
-hat  you,  dear  sir,  and  your  conscientious  society,  will  agree 
with  me,  that  it  is  more  incredible  that  an  apostle  of  Christ 

*  See  the  form  of  ordaining  priests,  in  Bishop  Sparrow's  Collect,  p.  158 
also  the  form  of  absolution,  in  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick  in  the  conimoB 
prayer. 

t  Luther,  in  his  original  Jena  edition  of  hia  t'crks,  calls  'his  epistle  "a  dn 
and  chaffy  epistle,  unworthy  of  an  apostle.*' 

t  Sf^e  Luther,  in  his  original  Jena  edition 


130  LETTER   XX. 

should  lie  ignorant  of  wha.  he  was  authorized  by  him  to  say  and 
do,  than  that  a  profligate  German  friar  should  be  guilty  of  blas- 
phemy. Indeed,  the  Church  of  England,  in  the  first  form  of 
her  common  prayer  in  Edward's  reign,  enjoined  the  unction  of 
the  sick,  as  well  as  prayer  for  them.*  It  was  evidently  well 
worthy  the  mercy  and  bounty  of  our  divine  Saviour,  to  institute 
a  special  sacrament  for  purifying  and  strengthening  us  at  the 
time  of  our  greatest  need  and  terror.  Owing  to  the  institution 
of  this,  and  the  two  other  sacraments,  penance  and  the  real  body 
a  '.d  blood  of  our  Lord,  it  is  a  fact,  that  few,  very  few  Catholics 
die  \\  ithout  the  assistance  of  their  clergy  :  which  assistance  the 
latter  are  bound  to  afford,  at  the  expense  of  ease,  fortune,  and 
life  itself,  to  the  most  indigent  and  abject  of  their  flock,  who  are 
in  danger  of  death,  no  less  than  to  the  rich  and  the  great : 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  very  few  Protestants,  in  that  extrem- 
ity, partake  at  all  of  the  cold  rites  of  their  religion ;  though  one 
of  them,  the  Lord's  supper,  is  declared,  in  the  catechism,  to  be 
"necessary  for  salvation." 

It  is  equally  strange  that  a  clergy,  with  such  high  claims  and 
important  advantages,  as  those  of  the  Establishment,  should  deny 
that  the  orders  of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  are  sacrament- 
al, or  that  the  episcopal  form  of  church  government,  and  of 
ordaining  the  clergy,  is  required  in  Scripture.  In  fact,  this  is 
telling  the  legislature  and  the  nation  that,  if  they  prefer  the  less 
expensive  ministry  of  the  Presbyterians  or  the  Methodists,  there 
is  nothing  divine  or  essential  in  the  ministry  itself,  which  will 
be  injured  by  the  change  ;  and  that  clergymen  may  be  a.3 
validly  ordained  by  the  town-crier  with  his  bell,  as  by  the  me- 
tropolitan's imposition  of  hands  !  Nevertheless,  strange  as  it 
appears,  this  is  the  doctrine  not  only  of  Hoadley's  Socinian 
school,  as  I  have  elsewhere  demonstrated, f  but  also  of  those 
modern  divines  and  dignitaries,  who  are  the  standard  of  ortho- 
doxy,:]: Thus  are  the  clergy  of  the  English  church,  as  well  as 
all  other  Protestant  ministers,  by  their  own  confession,  destitute 
of  all  sacramental  grace  for  performing  their  functions  holily 
and  beneficially. §  But,  we  know,  conformably  with  the  doc- 
trine  of  St.  Paul,  in  both  his  epistles  to  Timothy,  1  Tim.  iv. 
14,  2  Tim.  i.  6,  and  the  constant  doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  as  likewise  of  all  other  ancient  churches,  that  this 
grace  is  conferred  on  those  who  are  truly  ordained  and  in  fit 
dispositions  to  receive  it.  We  know,  moreover,  that  the  per- 
suasion  which  the  faithful  entertain  of  the  divine  character  and 


*  See  Collier's  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  ii.,  p.  257.     t  Dr.  Bala^uy,  Dr.  Iley,  4&e 
t   The  Bishop  of  Lincoln's  Elem.  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  pp.  376,  396 
§  See  LetteiB  to  a  Piebendary,  letter  viii. 


MEANS    OF    SANCTITY.  181 

grace  of  their  clergy,  gives  a  great  additional  weight  to  their 
lessons  and  ministry.  In  like  manner,  with  respect  to  matrimo- 
ny, which  the  same  apostle  expressly  calls  a  sacrament,  Ephes. 
V.  32,  the  very  idea  of  its  sanctity,  independently  of  its  peculiar 
grace,  is  a  preparation  for  entering  into  that  state  with  religious 
dispositions. 

Next  to  the  sacraments  of  the  Catholic  Church,  as  so  many 
helps  to  the  holiness  and  salvation  of  her  children,  I  must  men- 
tion her  public  service.  We  continually  hear  the  advocates  of 
the  Establishment  crying  up  the  beauty  and  perfection  of  their 
liturgy  ;*  but  they  have  not  the  candor  to  inform  the  public  that 
it  is  all,  in  a  manner,  borrowed  from  the  Catholic  missal  and 
ritual.  Of  this  fact  any  one  may  satisfy  himself,  who  will 
compare  the  prayers,  lessons  and  gospels  in  these  Catholic 
books,  with  those  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  But,  though 
our  service  has  been  thus  purloined,  it  has  by  no  means  been 
preserved  entire  :  on  the  contrary,  we  find  it,  in  the  latter,  evis- 
ceratedL  of  its  noblest  parts ;  particularly  with  respect  to  the 
principal  and  essential  worship  of  all  the  ancient  churches,  the 
holy  mass,  which,  from  a  true  propitiatory  sacrifice,  as  it  stands 
in  all  our  missals,  is  cut  down  to  a  mere  verbal  worship,  in 
The  order  for  the  morning  prayer.  Hence  our  James  I.  pro- 
nounced of  the  latter,  that  it  is  an  ill  said  mass.  The  servants 
of  God  had,  by  his  appointment,  SACRIFICE,  both  under  the 
law  of  nature  and  the  written  law  ;  it  would  then  be  extraordi- 
nary, if  under  the  law  of  grace  they  were  left  destitute  o4*this, 
the  most  sublime  and  excellent  act  of  religion  which  man  can 
offer  to  his  Creator.  But  we  are  not  left  destitute  of  it ;  on  the 
contrary,  that  prophecy  of  Mai  achy  is  fulfilled,  Mai.  i.  11  :  In 
every  place,  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun,  sacrifice  is 
offered  and  a  pure  oblation  ;  even  Christ  himself,  who  is  really 
present  and  mystically  ofTered  on  our  altars  in  the  sacrifice  of 
the  mass. 

I  pass  over  the  solemnity,  the  order,  and  the  magnificence  of 
Ot.r  public  worship  and  ritual  in  Catholic  countries,  which  most 
candid  Protestants,  who  have  witnessed  them,  allow  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly impressive,  and  great  helps  to  devotion,  and  whichi 
certainly,  in  most  particulars,  find  their  parallel  in  the  worship 
and  ceremonies  of  the  old  law,  ordained  by  God  himself.  Ncv 
ertheless,  it  is  a  gross  calumny  to  assert  that  the  Catholic 
Church  does,  or  ever  did,  make  the  essence  of  religion  to  con- 
sist in  these  externals  ;  and  we  challenge  them  to  our  councils 
and  doctrinal  books  in  refutation    of  tiie  calumny.     In   like 

♦  Dr.  Rennel  calls  the  church  liturgy  ♦»  the  most  penect  of  human  coim. 
positions,  and  the  sacred  legacy  of  the  first  reformers."  Diic.  p.  237. 


182  LETTER  XXI. 

manner,  I  pass  over  the  many  private  exercises  of  piety  which 
are  generally  practised  in  regular  Catholic  families  and  by  in 
dividuals  ;  such  as  daily  meditation  and  spiritual  reading,  even- 
ing prayers  and  examination  of  the  conscience,  &c.  These,  it 
will  not  be  denied,  must  be  helps  for  attaining  sanctity  to  thrse 
who  are  desirous  of  it. — But  I  have  said  more  than  enough  to 
convince  your  friends,  in  which  of  the  rival  communions  the 
means  of  sanctity  are  chiefly  to  be  found. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XXI.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ. 

ON  THE  FRUITS  OF  SANCTITY. 
Dear  sir — 

The  fruits  of  sanctity  are  the  virtues  practised  by  those  who 
are  possessed  of  it.  Hence  the  present  question  is,  whether 
these  are  to  be  found,  for  the  most  part,  among  the  members  of 
the  ancient  Catholic  Church,  or  among  the  different  innovators, 
who  undertook  to  reform  it  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries  ?  In 
considering  the  subject,  the  first  thing  which  strikes  me  is,  that 
all  the  saints,  and  even  those  who  are  recorded  as  such  in  the 
calendar  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  in  whose  name  their 
churches  are  dedicated,  lived  and  died  strict  members  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  zealously  attached  to  her  doctrine  anq 
discipline.*  For  example,  in  this  calendar,  we  meet  with  a 
Pope  Gregory,  March  12,  the  zealous  asserter  of  the  papal  su- 
premacy,f  and  other  Catholic  doctrines ;  a  St.  Benedict,  March 
21,  the  patriarch  of  the  western  monks  and  nuns ;  a  St.  Dun- 
stan.  May  19,  the  vindicator  of  clerical  celibacy  ;  a  St.  Augus- 
tin,  of  Canterbury,  May  26,  the  introducer  of  the  whole  system 
of  Catholisity  into  England ;  and  a  venerable  Bede,  May  27, 
the  witness  of  this  important  fact.  It  is  sufficient  to  mention 
the  names  of  other  Catholic  saints,  for  example,  David,  Ciiad, 
Edward,  Richard,  Elphege,  Martin,  Swithun,  Giles,  Lambert, 
Leonard,  Hugh,  Etheldreda,  Remigius,  and  Edmund ;  all  of 

*  I  must  except  King  Charles  I.  who  is  rubricated  as  a  martyr  on  Tan.  30  . 
nevertheless,  it  is  confessed  that  he  was  far  from  possessing  either  the  furi- 
ty  of  a  saint  or  the  constancy  of  a  martyr  ;  for  he  actually  gave  up  Episco. 
pacy  and  other  essentials  of  the  established  religion,  by  his  last  treaty  in  the 
hlo  of  Wight. 

t  IVIany  Protestant  writers  pretended  that  St.  Gregory  disclaimed  tlie  su 
premacy  because  he  asserted  against  John  of  Constantinople  that  neither  ha 
nor  any  other  prelate  ought  to  assume  the  title  of  Universal  Bishop;  bu 
that  he  claimed  and  exercised  the  supremacy,  his  own  works  and  the  h,«t> 
«y  of  Bede  incontrovertibly  demonstrate. 


FRUITS    OF    SANCTITY.  l33 

which  are  inserted  in  the  calendar,  and  ;*«re  onnes  to  some  oi 
other  churches  of  the  Establishment,  beaiuea  tnese,  there  are 
very  many  of  our  other  saints,  whom  ail  learned  and  candid 
Protestants  unequivocally  admit  to  have  been  such,  for  the  ex- 
traordinary j'Urity  and  sanctity  of  their  lives.  Even  Luther 
acknowledges  St.  Anthony,  St.  Bernard,  St.  Dominic,  &+.  Fran- 
cis, St.  Bonaventure,  &;c.,  to  have  been  saints,  though  avowed 
Catholics,  and  defenders  of  the  Catholic  Cliurch  against  he 
heretics  and  schismatics  of  their  times.  But,  independently  of 
this  and  of  every  other  testimony,  it  is  certain  that  the  super- 
natural virtues,  and  heroical  sanctity  of  a  countless  number  :f 
holy  personages  of  different  countries,  ranks,  professions,  and 
sexes,  have  illustrated  the  Catholic  Church  in  every  age,  with 
an  effulgf>nce  which  cannot  be  disputed  or  withstood.  Your 
friends,  I  dare  say,  are  not  much  acquainted  with  the  histories 
of  these  brightest  ornaments  of  Christianity  ;  let  me  then  invite 
them  to  peruse  them,  not  in  the  legends  of  obsolete  writers,  but 
in  a  work  which,  for  its  various  learning  and  luminous  criti- 
cism, was  commended  even  by  the  infidel  Gibbon  ;  I  mean  The 
Lives  of  Saints,  in  twelve  octavo  volumes,  written  by  the  late 
Rev.  Alban  Butler,  President  of  St.  Omer's  College.  Pro- 
testants are  accustomed  to  paint  in  the  most  frightful  colors,  the 
alleged  depravity  of  the  church,  when  Luther  erected  his  stand- 
ard,  in  order  to  justify  him  and  his  followers  in  their  defection 
from  it.  But  to  form  a  right  judgment  in  the  case,  let  them 
read  the  works  of  the  contemporary  writers,  an  a  Kempis,  a 
Gerson,  an  Antonius,  &;c.;  or  let  them  peruse  the  lives  of  St. 
Vincent  Ferrer,  St.  Laurence  Justinian,  St.  Francis  Paula,  St. 
Philip  Neri,  St.  Cajetan,  St.  Teresa,  St.  Francis  Xaverius,  and 
of  those  other  saints  who  illuminated  the  church  about  the  perioti 
in  question.  Or  let  them,  from  the  very  accounts  of  Pro- 
testant historians,  compare,  as  to  religion  and  morality,  Arch- 
oishop  Cranmer,  with  his  rival.  Bishop  Fisher ;  Protector  Sey- 
mour  with  Chancellor  More ;  Ann  Boleyn  with  Catharine  oi 
Arragon ;  Martin  Luther  and  Calvin  with  Francis  Xaveri^is 
Rnd  Cardinal  Pole ;  Beza  with  St.  Francis  of  Sales  ;  Queen 
Elizabeth  with  Mary  Queen  of  Scots;  these  contrasted  charac- 
iers  having  more  or  less  relation  with  each  other.  From  such 
a  comparison,  I  have  no  sort  of  doubt  what  the  decision  of  your 
friends  will  be  concerning  them  in  point  of  their  respective 
holiness. 

I  have  heretofore  been  called  upon  to  consiiler  the  virtues 
and  merits  of  the  most  distinguished  reformers;*'  and  certainly 
we  have  a  right  to  expect  from  persons  of  this  aescription  fin 

•  Reflections  on  Popery,  bv  Pc.  Stuiges,  L  L.  D.  &c. 
12 


134  LETTER    XXI. 

islied  models  of  \irtue  and  piety.  But  instead  of  this  being  the 
Utise,  I  have  shown  that  Patriarch  Luther  was  the  sport  of  his 
unbridled  passions,*  pride,  resentment,  and  lust ;  that  he  was 
turbulent,  abusive,  and  sacrilegious,  in  the  highest  degree  ;  that 
he  was  the  trumpeter  of  sedition,  civil  war,  rebellion,  and  deso- 
lation ;  and  finally,  that  bv  his  own  account,  he  was  the  scholai 
ol  Satan,  in  the  most  important  article  of  his  pretended  Reforma- 
tion.! I  have  made  out  nearly  as  heavy  a  charge  against  his 
chief  followers,  Carlostad,  Zuinglius,  Ochin,  Calvin,  Beza,  and 
Cranmer.  With  respect  to  the  last-named,  who  under  Edward 
Vf.;  and  his  fratricide  uncle,  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  was  the 
chief  artificer  of  the  Anglican  Church,  I  have  shown  that,  from 
his  youthful  life  in  a  college,  till  his  death  at  the  stake,  he  ex- 
hibited such  a  continued  scene  of  libertinism,  perjury,  hypocri- 
sy, barbarity,  (in  burning  his  fellow  Protestants,)  profligacy, 
ingratitude,  and  rebellion,  as  is,  perhaps,  not  to  be  matched  in 
history.  I  have  proved  that  all  his  fellow-laborers  and  fellow- 
sufl!erers,  were  rebels  like  himself,  who  would  have  been  put 
to  death  by  Elizabeth,  if  they  had  not  been  executed  by  Mary. 
I  adduced  the  testimony  not  only  of  Erasmus  and  other  Catho- 
lics, but  also  of  the  gravest  Protestant  historians,  and  of  the  very 
reformers  themselves,  in  proof  that  the  morals  of  the  people,  so 
far  from  being  changed  for  the  better,  by  embracing  the  new 
religion,  were  greatly  changed  for  the  worse. if  The  pretended 
Reformation,  in  foreign  countries,  as  in  Germany,  the  Nether- 
lands, at  Geneva,  in  Switzerland,  France,  and  Scotland,  besides 
producing  popular  insurrections,  sackages,  demolitions,  sacri- 
lcge3  and  persecution  beyond  description,  excited  also  open  re- 
belliGns  and  bloody  civil  wars.§     In  England,  where  our  wri- 

*  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  Letter  V. 

t  Ibid.  p.  183,  where  Satan's  conference  with  Luther,  and  the  arguments 
by  which  he  induced  this  reformer  to  abolish  the  mass,  are  detailed  from 
Luther's  works.  Tom.  vii.  p.  228.  X  Ibid. 

§  The  Huguenots  in  Dauphiny  alone,  as  one  of  their  writers  confesses, 
burnt  down  900  towns  or  villages,  and  murdered  378  priests  or  religious,  in 
she  course  of  one  rebellion.  The  number  of  churches  destroyed  by  them 
throughout  France  is  computed  at  20,000.  The  History  oi  England's  Ref. 
ttimation  (though  this  was  certainly  more  orderly  than  that  of  other  coun- 
tries) has  causec  the  conversion  of  many  English  Protestants  ;  it  produced 
this  effect  on  James  II.  and  his  first  consort,  the  mother  of  Queen  Mary  and 
Queen  Anne.  The  following  is  the  account  which  the  latter  has  left  of  this 
ihange,  a  id  which  is  to  be  found  in  Dodd's  last  volume,  and  in  the  Fifty 
Reasons  cf  the  Duke  of  Brunswick :  "  Seeing  much  of  the  devotion  of  the 
Catholics,  I  made  it  my  constant  prayer  that,  if  I  were  not,  I  might,  before  I 
Jicd,  be  in  the  true  religion.  I  did  not  doubt  but  that  1  was  so  till  Novem- 
»er  last,  when  reading  a  book  called  the  History  of  the  Reformation,  by  Dr 
Ueylin,  which  I  had  heard  very  much  commended,  and  had  been  told,  ii 
.ver  I  had  any  doubts  in  my  religion,  that  would  settle  me  :  instead  of  wbidi 


OBJECT.ONS    ANSWERED.  138 

lers  boast  of  the  orderly  manner  in  which  the  change  of  relt 
gion  was  carried  on,  it,  nevertheless,  most  unjustly  and  sacrile- 
giously  seized  upon,  and  destroyed,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII., 
645  monasteries,  90  colleges,  and  110  hospitals,  besides  the 
bishoprick  of  Durham  ;  and,  under  Edward  VI.,  or  rather  his 
profligate  uncle,  2,374  colleges,  chapels,  or  hospitals,  in  order 
to  make  princely  fortunes  for  that  uncle  and  his  unprincipled 
comrades,  who,  like  banditti  quarrelling  over  their  spoils,  soon 
brought  each  other  to  the  block.  Such  were  the  fruits  of  sanc- 
tity every  where  produced  by  tnis  pretended  Reformation. 

I  am,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XXII.— TO  MR.  J.  TOULMIN. 

OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 
Dear  sir — 

1  have  received  your  letter,  animadverting  upon  mine  to  our 
common  friend  Mr.  Brown,  respecting  the  fruits  of  sanctity,  as 
they  appear  in  our  respective  communions.  I  observe  you  do 
not  contest  my  general  facts  or  arguments,  but  resort  to  objec- 
tions which  have  been  already  answered  in  these,  or  in  mj 
other  letters  now  before  the  public.  You  assert,  as  a  notorious 
fact,  that  for  several  ages  prior  to  the  Reformation,  the  Catho- 
lic religion  was  sunk  into  ceremonies  and  pageantry,  and  that 
it  sanctioned  the  most  atrocious  crimes.  In  refutation  of  these 
calumnies,  I  have  referred  to  our  councils,  to  our  most  accred- 
ited authors  of  religion  and  morality,  and  to  the  lives  and  deaths 
of  our  most  renowned  saints,  during  the  ages  in  question.  I 
grant,  sir,  that  you  hold  the  same  language  on  this  subject  with 
other  Protestant  writers  ;  but  I  maintain  that  none  of  them  make 
good  their  charges,  and  that  their  motive  for  advancing  them,  is 
to  find  a  pretext  for  excusing  the  irreligion  of  the  pretended 
Reformation.  You  next  extol  the  alleged  sanctity  of  the  Pro- 
testant sufferers,  called  martyrs,  in  the  unhappy  persecution  of 
Queen  Mary's  reign.     I  have  discussed  this  matter  at  some 

I  found  it  the  description  of  the  horridest  sacrileges  in  the  world  :  and  could 
find  no  cause  why  we  left  the  church,  but  for  three  the  most  abominable 
ones  :  Ist,  Henry  VIII.  renounced  the  Pope,  because  he  would  not  give  him 
leave  to  part  with  his  wife  and  marry  another ;  2dly,  Edward  VI.  was  a 
child,  and  governed  by  his  uncle,  who  made  his  estate  out  of  the  church 
lands  ;  3dly,  Elizabeth,  not  being  lawful  heiress  to  the  crown,  had  no  way 
to  keep  it  but  by  renouncing  a  church  which  would  not  suffer  so  unlawful  t 
thing.  I  confess  I  cannot  think  the  Holy  Ghost  could  ever  be  in  such  coua* 
tils"  Declaration  of  the  Duchess  of  York. 


IS6  LETTER    XXII. 

length  in  The  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  anr  have  sliown,  ih  oj> 
position  to  John  Fox  and  his  copyists,  th.'.t  some  of  theye  pre- 
tended martyrs  were  alive  when  he  wrote  the  history  of  theii 
death  ;*  that  others  of  them,  and  the  five  bishops  in  particular, 
so  far  from  being  saints,  were  notoriously  deficient  in  the  ordi- 
nary duties  of  good  subjects  and  honest  men  ;f  that  others 
again  were  notorious  assassins,  as  Gardener,  Flower,  and 
Rough ;  or  robbers,  as  Debenham,  King,  Marsh,  Cauches,  Gil- 
bert, Massey,  &c.  ;J  while  not  a  few  of  them  retractea  their 
errors,  as  Bilney,  Taylor,  Wassalia,  and  died,  to  all  appear- 
ancc;  Catholics.  To  the  whole  ponderous  folio  of  Fox's  false- 
hoods, I  have  opposed  the  genuine  and  edifying  Memoirs  of  Mis 
sionary  Priests  and  other  Catholics,  who  suffered  death  for  their 
Religion,  during  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  the  Stuarts.  Fi- 
nally,  you  reproach  me  with  the  scandalous  lives  of  some  of 
our  popes,  during  the  middle  ages,  and  of  very  many  Catholics 
of  difTerent  descriptions,  throughout  the  church  at  the  present 
day ;  and  you  refer  me  to  the  edifying  lives  of  a  great  number 
of  Protestants,  now  living  in  this  country. 

My  answer,  dear  sir,  to  your  concluding  objections,  is  briefly 
this,  that  I,  as  well  as  Baronius,  Bellarmin,  and  other  Catholic 
writers,  have  unequivocally  admitted,  that  some  few  of  our  pen- 
tifTs  have  disgraced  themselves  by  their  crimes,  and  given  jus\ 
cause  of  scandal  to  Christendom  ;§  but  I  have  remarked  thai 
the  credit  of  our  cause  is  not  affected  by  the  personal  conduci 
of  particular  pastors,  who  succeeded  one  another  in  a  regulai 
way,  in  the  same  manner,  as  the  credit  of  yours  is  by  the  beha- 
vior of  your  founders,  who  professed  to  have  received  an  ejctra- 
ordinary  commission  from  God  to  reform  religion. \\  I  acknow- 
ledge, with  the  same  unreservedness,  that  the  lives  of  very 
many  Catholics,  in  this  and  other  parts  of  the  church,  are  a  dis- 
grace to  that  holy  Catholic  Church  which  they  profess  to  believe 
in.  Unhappy  members  of  the  true  religion  by  ivhom  the  name 
of  God  (and  of  his  holy  church)  is  blasphemed  among  the  na- 
tions !  Rom.  ii.  24.  Unhappy  Catholics,  who  "  live  enemies  of 
the  cross  of  Christ,  whose  end  is  destruction,  who  mind  only 
earthly  things  !"  Philip,  iii.  18.  But,  "  It  must  needs  be  that 
scandals  should  come :  nevertheless,  wo  to  that  man  by  whom 
the  scandal  cometh  !"  Matt,  xviii.  7.  In  short,  I  bear  a  willmg 
testimony  to  the  public  and  private  worth  of  very  many  of  my 
Protestant  countrymen  of  different  religions,  as  citizens,  as  sub- 
jects, as  friends,  as  children,  as  parents,  as  moral  men,  and  as 
Christians,  in  the  general  sense  of  the  word  ;  still  I  must  say 

«  See  Letter  IV  on  Persecution.      +  See  Letter  V.  on  the  ReformatiQtt 
t  Letter  IV  ^  See  Letter  II.  on  Supremacy.  U  Ibid. 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  187 

that  I  find  the  be^t  of  them  fa*  short  of  the  holiness  which  is 
prescribed  in  the  Gospel,  and  is  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  those 
saints  whom  I  have  mentioned.  On  this  subject  I  will  quote  an 
authority,  which,  I  think,  you  will  not  object  to.  Dr.  Hey  says, 
"  In  England,  I  could  almost  say,  we  are  too  Utile  acquainted 
with  contemplative  religion.  The  monk,  painted  by  Sterne, 
may  give  us  a  more  favorable  idea  of  it,  than  our  prejudices 
generally  suggest.  I  once  travelled  with  a  Recolet,  and  con. 
versed  with  a  Minim  at  his  convent ;  and  they  both  had  that 
kind  of  character  which  Sterne  gives  to  his  monk :  that  refine- 
ment of  body  and  mind,  that  pure  glow  of  meliorated  passion, 
thai  polished  piety  and  humanity,"  &c.*  In  a  former  letter  to 
your  society,  I  have  stated  that  sincere  humility,  by  which, 
from  a  thorough  knowledge  of  our  sins  and  misery,  we  become 
little  in  our  own  eyes,  and  try  to  avoid,  rather  than  to  gain  the 
praise  and  notice  of  others,  is  the  very  groundwork  of  all  other 
Christian  virtues.  It  has  been  objected  to  Protestants,  ever 
since  the  defection  of  their  arrogant  patriarch,  Luther,  that  they 
have  said  little,  and  have  appeared  to  understand  less  of  this 
essential  virtue.  I  might  say  the  same  with  respect  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  an  entire  subjugation  of  our  other  congenial  passions, 
avarice,  lust,  anger,  intemperance,  envy,  and  sloth,  as  I  have 
said  of  pride  and  vain-glory ;  but  I  pass  over  ihese  to  say  a  tew 
words  of  certain  maxims  expressly  contained  in  Scripture.  It 
cannot  then  be  denied  that  our  Saviour  said  to  the  rich  young 
man,  "  If  thou  wilt  be  perfect,  go,  sell  all  thou  hast  and  give  to 
the  poor,  and  thou  shall  have  treasures  in  heaven  ;"  nor  that  he 
declared  on  another  occasion,  "There  are  eunuchs  who  have 
made  themselves  eunuchs  (continen:)  for  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven's sake.  He  that  is  able  to  receive  it,  let  him  receive  it.'* 
Matt.  xix.  12.  Now  it  is  notorious  that  this  life  of  voluntary 
poverty  and  perpetual  chastity  continues  to  be  vowed  and  ob- 
served by  great  numbers  of  both  sexes  in  the  Catholic  Church ; 
while  it  is  nothing  more  than  a  subject  of  ridicule  to  the  best 
of  Protestants.  Again,  "  that  we  ought  to  fast,  is  a  truth  too 
manifest  to  stand  in  need  of  any  proof:"  I  here  use  the  words 
of  the  Church  of  England  in  her  Homily  iv.  p.  11  ;  conforma- 
bly with  which  doctrine  your  church  enjoins  in  her  Common 
Prayer  Book,  the  same  days  of  fasting  and  abstinence  which  the 
Catholic  Church  does  ;  namely,  the  forty  days  of  Lent,  the 
Ember-days,  all  the  Fridays  in  the  year,  &c.  :  nevertheless, 
where  is  the  Protestant  to  be  found  who  will  submit  to  the  mor- 
tification of  fasting,  even  to  obey  his  own  church  ?  I  may  add, 
that  Chriit  enjoins  constant  prayer  ^  Luke,  xviii.  1 ;  conforms  bit 

•  Lectures  in  Divinity,  v<5).  i.  p.  364. 


i38  LETTER    XXIII. 

with  which  injunction,  .ne  Catholic  Church  requires  her  clerg-y 
at  least,  f/om  the  sub-deacon  up  to  the  pope,  daily  to  say  the 
seven  Canonical  Hours,  consisting  chiefly  of  Scriptural  psahns 
and  lessons ;  which  take  up  in  the  recital  near  an  hour  and  a 
half,  in  addition  to  their  other  devotions.  Now,  what  pretext 
had  the  Protestant  clergy,  whose  pastoral  duties  are  so  much 
lighter  than  ours,  to  lay  aside  these  inspired  prayers,  except  in- 
devotion  ?  Luther  himself  said  his  office  for  some  time  after 
his  apostacy. — But  to  conclude  :  as  it  is  of  so  much  importance 
to  ascertain  which  is  the  holy  church  mentioned  in  your  creed, 
and  as  you  can  follow  no  better  rule  for  this  purpose,  than  to 
judge  of  the  tree  by  its  fruits  ;  so  let  me  advise  you  and  your 
friends,  to  make  use  of  every  means  in  your  power,  to  compare 
regular  families,  places  of  education,  and  especially  ecclesias- 
tical establishments  of  the  different  communions,  with  each 
other,  as  to  morality  and  piety,  and  to  decide  for  yourselves  ac- 
cording to  what  you  may  observe  in  them. — I  am,  &;c. 

John  Miln^r. 


LETTER  XXIII.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ. 

ON  DIVINE  ATTESTATION  OF  SANCTITY. 

Dear  sir — 

Having  demonstrated  the  distinctive  holiness  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  in  her  doctrine,  her  practices,  and  her  fruiJ-f  of  sanctity, 
I  am  prepared  to  show  that  God  himself  has  borne  testimony  to 
her  holiness,  and  to  those  very  doctrines  and  practices  which 
Protestants  object  to  as  unholy  and  superstitious,  by  the  many 
incontestable  miracles  he  has  wrought  in  her  and  in  their  favor, 
from  the  age  of  the  apostles  down  to  the  present  age. 

The  learned  Protestant  advocates  of  revelation,  such  as  Gro- 
tins,  Abbadie,  Paley,  Watson,  &c.,  in  defending  this  common 
cause  against  infidels,  all  agree  in  the  sentiment  of  the  last 
named,  that  "  Miracles  are  the  criterion  of  truth."  Accord- 
ingly they  observe,  that  both  Moses,  Exod.  iv.  xiv.  Numb.  xvi. 
29,  and  Jesus  Christ,  John,  x.  37,  38, — xiv.  12, — xv.  24,  con. 
stantly  appealed  to  the  prodigies  they  wrought,  in  attestation  of 
their  divine  mission  and  doctrine.  Indeed  the  whc  le  history  of 
God's  people,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  do\^  n  to  the  time 
of  our  blessed  Saviour,  was  nearly  a  continued  series  of  mira- 
cles.*    The  latter,  so  far  from  confining  the  power  of  vorking 

*  To  say  nothing  of  the  Urim  and  Thummim,  the  Water  of  JeaIou.sy,  an  j 
the  superabundant  harvest  of  the  sabbatical  year,  it  is  incontestable,  from 
the  Gospel  o '  St.  John,  v.  2,  that  the  probatical  pond  was  endowed  Sy  an 
angel  wi'.h  a  niraculous  power  of  dealing  every  kind  of  disease,  in  the  tixn* 
Qf  Christ, 


ATTESTATION    OF    SANCTITY.  138 

them  to  his  own  person  or  time,  expressly  promised  the  samp, 
and  even  a  greater  power  of  this  nature,  to  his  disciples,  Mark, 
xvi.  17,  John,  xiv.  12.  For  both  the  reasons  here  mentioned, 
namely,  that  the  Almighty  was  pleased  to  illustrate  the  society 
of  his  chosen  servants,  both  under  the  law  of  nature  and  the 
tvritten  law,  with  frequent  miracles,  and  that  Christ  promised  a 
eontinuance  of  them  to  his  disciples  under  the  new  law,  we  are 
led  to  expect  thai  the  true  church  should  be  distinguished  by 
miracles,  wrought  in  her,  and  in  proof  of  her  divine  origin. 
Accordingly,  the  fathers  and  doctors  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
amongst  other  proofs  in  her  favor,  have  constantly  appealed  to 
the  miracles  by  which  she  is  illustrated,  and  reproached  their 
contemporary  heretics  and  schismatics  with  the  want  of  them. 
Thus  St.  IrensBus,  disciple  of  St.  Polycarp,  who  himself  was  a 
disciple  of  St.  John  the  evangelist,  reproaches  the  heretics, 
against  whom  he  writes,  that  they  could  not  give  sight  to  the 
blind,  hearing  to  the  deaf,  cast  out  devils,  or  raise  the  dead  to 
iife ;  as  he  testifies  was  frequently  done  in  the  true  church.* 
Thus  also  his  contemporary,  TertuUian,  speaking  of  the  here- 
tics, says,  "  I  wish  to  see  the  miracles  they  have  wrought. "•!• 
St.  Pacian,  in  the  fourth  century,  writing  against  the  schismatic 
Novatus,  scornfully  asks,  "  Has  he  the  gift  of  tongues  or  pro- 
phecy ?  Has  he  restored  the  dead  to  life  ?"J  The  great  St. 
Augustin,  in  various  passages  of  his  works,  refers  to  the  mira- 
cles wrought  in  the  Catholic  Church,  in  evidence  of  her  ve- 
racity.§  St.  Nicetas,  Bishop  of  Treves,  in  the  sixth  century, 
in  order  to  convert  her  husband,  Albion,  king  of  the  Lombards, 
from  Arianism,  advises  Queen  Clodosind  to  induce  him  to  send 
confidential  messengers,  to  witness  the  miracles  wrought  at  the 
tombs  of  St.  Martin,  St.  Germanus,  or  St.  Hilary,  in  giving 
sight  to  the  blind,  speech  to  the  dumb,  &c.,  adding,  "  Are  such 
things  done  in  tne  cnurches  of  the  Arians?"||  About  the  same 
time  Levigild,  king  of  the  Goths  in  Spain,  an  Arian,  who  was 
converted,  or  nearly  so,  by  his  Catholic  son,  St.  Hermengild, 
reproached  his  Arian  bishops  that  no  miracles  were  wrought 
among  them,  as  was  the  case,  he  said,  among  the  Catholics. IT 
The  seventh  century  was  illustrated  by  the  miracles  of  our 
apostle,  St.  Augustin  of  Canterbury,  wrought  in  confirmation  of 

•  Lib.  ii.  contra  Haer.  c.  31  t  Lib.  de  Praescr. 

t  Ep.  ii.  ad  Symphor. 

§  "  Dubitamus  nos  eju8  Ecclesiae  condere  gremio,  quaj  usque  ad  confes. 
eionem  generis  huinani  ab  apostolica  sede,  per  succeBsionem  Episcoporum 
(frustra  haereticis  circumlatrantibus,  et  partim  plebis  ipsius  judicio,  partim 
c^nciliorum  gravitate,  partim  etiam  iniraculorum  majestate  damnalis)  cui. 
w.n  auctoritatis  obtinuit  ?" — De  Utilit.  Cred.  c.  iv. 

U  Labbe's  Concil.  torn.  v.  p.  835.  IT  Greg.  Turon.  J.  ix.  c.  15. 


140  LETTER    XXIII. 

the  doctrine  which  he  taught,  as  was  recorded  on  his  tomb  .* 
and  this  doctrine,  by  the  confession  of  learned  Protestants,  was 
purely  the  Roman  Catholic. f  In  the  eleventh  century,  we  hear  a 
celebrated  doctor,  speaking  of  the  proofs  of  the  Catholic  religion, 
exclaim  thus,  "O  Lord,  if  what  we  believe  is  an  erro:%  thou 
art  the  author  of  it,  since  it  is  confirmed  amongst  us  by  those 
signs  and  prodigies  which  could  not  be  wrought  but  by  thee.^'if 
In  short,  St.  Bernard,  St,  Dominic,  St.  Xaverius,  &c.,  all  ap- 
pealed to  the  miracles  which  God  wrought  by  their  hands,  iu 
proof  of  the  Catholic  doctrine.  I  need  not  mention  the  contro- 
versial works  of  Bellarmin  and  other  modern  schoolmen:  nev- 
ertheless, I  cannot  refrain  from  observing  that  even  Luther, 
when  the  Anabaptists,  adopting  his  own  principles,  had  proceeded 
to  excesses  of  doctrine  and  practice  which  he  disapproved  of, 
required  them  to  prove  their  authority  for  their  innovations  by 
the  performance  of  miracles. §  You  will  naturally  ask,  dear  sir 
how  Luther  himself  got  rid  of  the  argument  implied  by  this  re- 
quisition, which,  it  is  evident,  bore  as  strongly  against  him,  as 
against  the  Anabaptists  ? — On  one  occasion,  he  answered  thus, 
"  I  have  made  an  agreement  with  the  Lord,  not  to  send  me  any 
visions,  or  dreams,  or  angels,"  &c.||  On  another  occasion,  he 
boasts,  of  his  visions  as  follows :  "  I  also  was  in  spirit,"  and 
"  if  I  must  glory  in  what  belongs  to  me,  I  have  seen  more 
spirits  than  they  (the  Swinkfeldians,  wno  denied  the  real  pres- 
ence)  will  see  in  a  whole  year. "II 

Such  has  been  the  doctrine  of  the  fathers  and  Catholic  writers 
concerning  miracles  in  general,  as  divine  attestations  in  favor 
of  that  church  in  which  God  is  pleased  to  work  them.  I  will  now 
mention,  or  refer  to  a  few  particular  miraculous  events  of  un- 
questionable evidence,  which  have  illustrated  this  church,  dur- 
ing the  eighteen  centuries  of  her  existence. 

No  Christian  questions  the  miracles  and  prophecies  of  the 
apostles  or  their  converts,  1  Cor.  xii.  10,  Galat.  iii.  .5 ;  and  if 
they  do  not,  why  should  any  Christian  question  the  vision  and 
prophecy  of  the  apostolic  Saint  Polycarp,  the  angel  of  the  church 
of  Smyrna,  Rev.  ii.  8,  concerning  the  manner  of  his  future  mar- 
tyrdom,  namely,  by  fire  ?**  or  the  testimony  of  his  episcopal  cor- 

*  "  Hie  requiescit  D.  Augustinus,  &c..  qui  operatione  miraculorum  sufc 
fultus,  Edelberthum  Regem  ac  gentem  illius  ab  idolorum  cultu  ad  fidem 
Christi  covertit." — Bed.  Eceles.  Hist.  1.  ii.  e.  3.  See,  in  particular,  the  &c. 
count  of  this  saint's  restoring  sight  to  a  blind  man  in  con^rmaiion  of  ni« 
dorfrine.     Ibid.  c.  2.  • 

t  The  Centuriators  of  Magdeburg,  Sajc.  6.  Bale.  In  Act  Rom.  Pont 
Humphrey's  Jesuit,  &c.  t  Ric.  a  S.  Vict,  de  Triuit.  1  i. 

^  Sleidan.     Comment  de  Stat.  Rel. 

II  Manhus  in  loc.  commun.     See  Brierly's  Apology  p.  448. 

^  Luth.  ad  Senat.  Civil.  Germ.  **  Genuine  Acts  by  Ruinart 


ATTESTATION    OF    SAN^TITT.  141 

respondent,  who  was  likewise  a  discijle  of  the  apos'les  St.  Tg 
natius,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  who  testifies  that  the  wihl  beasts  let 
loose  upon  the  martyrs,  were  frequently  restrained  by  a  divin« 
power  from  hurting  them  ?  In  consequence  of  this,  he  prayed 
that  it  might  not  be  the  case  with  him.*  St.  Irenceus,  Bishop 
of  Lyons,  was  the  disciple  of  St.  Polycarp,  and,  like  him,  an  il- 
lustrious martyr.  Shall  we  then  call  in  question  his  testimony, 
when  he  declares,  as  I  have  noticed  above,  that  miracles,  even 
to  the  revival  of  the  dead,  frequently  took  place  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  but  never  among  the  heretics  ?f  Or  shall  we  disbe- 
lieve the  testimonies  of  the  learned  Origen,  in  the  next  century, 
who  says  that  it  was  usual  with  the  Christians  of  his  time  to 
drive  away  devils,  heal  the  sick,  and  foretell  things  to  come  ? 
adding  :  "  God  is  my  witness,  I  would  not  recommend  the  reli- 
gion of  Jesus  by  fictitious  stories,  but  only  by  clear  and  certain 
facts. "J  One  of  the  scholars  of  Origen  was  St.  Gregory,  Bishop 
of  Neocesarea,  surnt*med  Thaumaturgus,  or  Wonderworker,  on 
account  of  the  numerous  and  astonishing  miracles  which  God 
wrought  by  his  means.  Many  of  these,  even  to  the  stopping  the 
course  of  a  flood,  and  the  moving  of  a  mountain,  are  recorded 
by  the  learned  fathers,  who,  soon  after,  wrote  his  life.§  St. 
Cyprian,  the  great  ornament  of  the  third  century,  recounts  sev- 
eral miracles  which  took  place  in  it ;  some  of  which  prove  the 
blessed  eucharist  to  be  a  sacrifice^  and  the  lawfulness  of  receiv- 
ing it  under  one  kind.  In  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century  hap- 
pened that  wonderful  miracle,  when  the  Emperor  Julian  the 
A})ostate,  attempting  to  rebuild  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  in  order 
to  disprove  the  prophecy  of  Daniel  concerning  it,  Dan.  ix.  27, 
tempests,  whirlwinds,  earthquakes,  and  fiery  eruptions  convulsed 
the  scene  of  the  undertaking,  maiming  or  blasting  the  thousands 
of  Jews  and  other  laborers  employed  in  the  work,  and,  in  short, 
rendering  the  completion  of  it  utterly  impossible.  In  the  mean 
time  a  luminous  cross,  surrounded  with  a  circle  of  rays,  appear- 
ed in  the  heavens,  and  numerous  crosses  were  impressed  on  the 
bodies  and  garments  of  the  persons  present.  These  prodigies 
are  so  strongly  attested  by  almost  all  the  authors  of  the  age, 
-Arians,  and  pagans,  no  less  than  Catholics, ||  that  no  one  but  a 
downright  skeptic  can  call  them  in  question.  They  have  ac- 
cordingly been  acknowledged  by  the  most  learned  Protestants,  f 

*  Ep.  ad.  Roman.         t  Contra  Haer.  I.  ii.  c.  31.         X  Contra  Cels.  1.  i. 

§  Greg.  Nyss.  Euseb.  I.  vi.  St.  Basil,  St.  Jerom. 

II  Besides  the  testimony  of  the  fathers,  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  St.  Chry- 
Bostorn,  St.  Ambrose,  and  of  the  historians  Socrates,  Sozomen,  Theodoret, 
&c.,  these  events  are  also  acknowledged  by  Philostorgius  the  Arian,  Animi- 
anus  Marcellinus  i\  e  Pagan,  &c. 

IT  Bishop  Warbi  rton  published  a  book  called  Julian,  in  proof  of  thes« 
noiracles.     They  are  also  acknowledged  by  Bishop  Halifax,  Disc.  p.  23. 


142  LETTER    XXIII. 

Another  miracle,  which  may  vie  with  the  above-mentio'  ed,  foi 
the  number  and  quality  of  its  witnesses,  took  place  in  the  fol- 
l(»vving  century,  at Typassus  in  Africa;  where  a  whoU  congre- 
gation of  Catholics  being  assembled  to  perform  their  dev».;tions, 
contrary  to  the  orders  of  the  Arian  tyrant,  Hunneric,  their  right 
hands  were  chopped  off,  and  their  tongues  cut  out  to  the  roots, 
by  his  command  :  nevertheless,  they  continued  to  speak  as  per. 
fectly  as  they  did  before  this  barbarous  act.*  I  pass  over  num. 
berless  miracles  recorded  by  SS.  Basil,  Athanasius,  Jerom, 
Chrysostom,  Ambrose,  Augustin,  and  the  other  illustrious  fa- 
thers and  church-historians,  who  adorned  the  fourth,  fifthj  and 
sixth  centuries  of  Christianity  ;  and  shall  barely  mention  one 
miracle,  which  both  the  last-mentioned  holy  bishops  relate,  as 
having  been  themselves  actual  witnesses  of  it,  that  of  restoring 
sight  to  a  blind  man,  by  the  application  to  his  eyes  of  a  cloth 
which  had  touched  the  relics  of  SS.  Gervasius  and  Protasius.f 
The  latter  saint,  one  of  the  most  enlightened  men  that  evei 
nandled  a  pen,  gives  an  account,  in  the  work  to  which  I  have 
just  referred,  J  of  a  great  number  of  miracles  wrought  in  Africa, 
during  his  episcopacy,  by  the  relics  of  St.  Stephen  ;  and  among 
the  rest,  of  seventy  wrought  in  his  own  diocese  of  Hippo,  and 
some  of  them  in  his  own  presence,  in  the  course  of  two  years. 
Among  these  was  the  restoration  of  three  dead  bodies  to  life. 

From  this  notice  of  the  great  St.  Augustin  of  Hippo,  in  the 
fifth  century,  I  proceed  to  observe,  concerning  St.  Augustin  of 
Canterbury,  at  the  end  of  the  sixth,  that  the  miracles  wrought 
by  him,  were  not  only  recorded  on  his  tomb,  and  in  the  history 
of  the  venerable  Bede,  and  other  writers,  but  that  an  account 
of  them  was  transmitted,  at  the  time  they  took  place,  by  St 
Gregory  to  Eulogius,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  in  an  epistle 
still  extant,  in  which  this  pope  compares  them  with  those  per 
formed  by  the  apostles. §  The  latter  saint  wrote  likewise  an 
epistle  to  St.  Augustin  himself,  which  is  still  extant  in  his  works, 
and  in  Bede's  history,  cautioning  him  against  being  elated  with 
vain-glory,  on  the  occasion  of  these  miracles,  and  reminding 
him  that  God  had  bestowed  the  pov/er  of  working  them,  not  on 
his  own  account,  but  for  the  conversion  of  the  EngUeli  naticn.jj 

•  The  vouchers  of  this  miracle  are  Victor  Vitensis,  Hist.  Pcrsec.  Vaidal^ 
!.  ii. ,  the  Emperor  Justinian,  who  declares  that  he  had  seen  some  of  the 
sufferers,  Codex.  Just.  Tit.  27  ;  the  Greek  historian  Procupius,  who  says  ho 
had  conversed  with  them,  L.  i.  de  Bell.  Vand.  c.  8  ;  iKneas  of  Geza,  a  pla- 
tonic  philosopher,  who,  having  examined  their  mouths,  protested  that  he  was 
not  so  much  surprised  at  their  being  able  to  talk  as  at  iheir  being  atle  to 
live  ;  De  Immort.  Anim.  Victor,  Turon,  Isid.  Hispal.  Greg.  Magn.  &c.  The 
miracle  is  admitted  by  Abbadie,  Djdwell,  Moshcim,  and  other  learned  Pro 
jBstants.  t  Aug.  De  Civit.  Dei,  1.  xii.  p.  8.  t  Ibid.  1.  xii. 

§  Epist.  S.  Greg.  1.  vii.  ||  Ibid,  et  Hist.  Bede,  1.  i.  c.  31. 


ATTESTATION    OF    SANCT  -^.  143 

On  t  le  supposition  that  our  apostle  had  wrought  no  miracles, 
what  farces  must  these  epistles  have  exhibited  among  the  first 
cnaracters  of  the  Christian  world  ! 

Among  the  numberless  and  well-attested  miracles  which  the 
histories  of  the  middle  ages  present  to  our  view,  1  stop  at  those 
of  the  illustrious  abbot  St.  Bernard,  in  the  twelfth  century,  to 
whose  sanctity  the  most  eminent  Protestant  wi iters  have  borno 
high  testimony.*  This  saint,  in  the  life  of  his  friend,  St.  Mala 
chy  of  Armagh,  amongst  other  miracles,  mentions  the  cure  of 
the  withered  hand  of  a  youth,  by  the  application  to  it  of  the  dead 
nand  of  his  friend. f  But  this,  and  all  the  miracles  which  St. 
Bernard  mentions  of  other  saints,  totally  disappear,  when  com- 
pared with  those  wrought  by  himself;  which,  for  their  splendor 
and  publicity,  never  were  exceeded.  All  France,  Germany, 
Switzerland,  and  Italy  bore  testimony  to  them ;  and  prelates, 
princes,  and  the  emperor  himself,  were  often  the  spectators  of 
them.  In  a  journey  which  the  saint  made  into  Germany,  hfl 
was  followed  by  Philip,  Archdeacon  of  Liege,  who  was  sent  by 
Sampson,  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  to  observe  his  actions.:}:  Thia 
writer  accordingly  gives  an  account  of  a  vast  number  of  instan- 
taneous  cures,  which  the  holy  abbot  performed  on  the  lame,  the 
blind,  the  paralytic,  and  other  diseased  persons,  with  all  the 
circumstances  of  them.  Speaking  of  those  wrought  at  Cologne, 
he  says  :  "  They  were  not  performed  in  a  corner  ;  but  the  whole 
city  was  witness  to  them.  If  any  one  doubts,  or  is  curious,  he  may 
easily  satisfy  himself  on  the  spot,  especially  as  some  of  them 
were  wrought  on  persons  of  no  inconsiderable  rank  and  reputa- 
tion.'"^ A  great  number  of  these  miracles  were  performed  in 
express  confirmation  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  which  he  defended. 
Thus,  preaching  at  Sarlet  against  the  impious  and  impure  Hen- 
ricians,  a  species  of  Albigenses,  he  took  some  loaves  of  bread 
and  blessed  them  :  after  which  he  said  :  "  By  this  you  shall 
know  that  I  preach  to  you  the  true  doctrine  ;  and  the  heretics  a 
false  ddctiine  :  all  your  sick,  who  eat  of  this  bread,  shall  recover 
their  health;''  which  prediction  was  confirmed  by  the  event, || 
St.  Bernard  himself,  in  the  most  celebrated  of  his  works,ir  ad- 
dressed to  Pope  Eugenius  III.,  refers  to  the  miracles,  which  God 
enabled  him  to  work,  by  way  of  justifying  himself  for  having 
preached  up  the  second  crusade  ;**  and,  in  his  letter  to  the  peo- 

*  Luther,  Calvin,  Bucer,  (Ecolompadius,  Jewel,  Wh'itaker,  Mosheim,  &c. 

t  Vita  Malach.  inter  Oper.  Bern. 

t  St.  Bernard's  Life  was  written  by  his  three  contemporaries,  WilHam,  ah. 
not  ofThierry  ;  Arnold,  abbot  of  Bonevaux  ;  and  Geofiry,  the  saint's  secre- 
tary,  and  by  other  early  writers  :  his  own  eloquent  epistles,  and  other  works, 
furnish  many  particulars.  §  PubHshed  by  Mabillon. 

Ill  G€of.  in  Vit.  Bern.  IT  De  Consideratione.  »*  Ibid.  1.  ii. 


144  LETTER    XXllI- 

pie  of  Thoulouse,  he  mentions  his  having  detected  he  heretic* 
among  them,  not  only  by  words,  but  also  by  miracles.* 

The  miracles  of  St.  Francis  Xaverius,  the  Apostle  of  India, 
who  was  contemporary  with  Luther,  in  number,  splendor,  and 
publicity,  may  vie  with  Si.  Bernard's.  They  consisted  in  fore- 
telling future  events,  speaking  unknown  languages,  calming 
tempests  at  sea,  curing  various  maladies,  and  raising  the  dead 
to  life  ;  and,  though  tliey  took  place  in  remote  countries,  yet 
they  wore  verified  in  the  same,  soon  after  the  saint's  death,  by 
virtue  of  a  commission  from  John  III.,  King  of  Portugal,  and 
were  generally  acknowledged,  not  only  by  Europeans  of  differ- 
ent religions  in  the  Indics,f  but  also  by  the  native  Mahometans 
and  pagans.:}:  At  the  same  time  with  this  saint,  lived  the  holy, 
contemplative  St.  Philip  Neri,  in  proof  of  whose  miracles  three 
hundred  witnesses,  some  of  them  persons  of  high  rank,  were 
juridically  examined. §  The  following  century  was  illustrated 
by  the  attested  miracles  of  St.  Francis  of  Sales, ||  even  to  tne 
resurrection  of  the  dead  ;  as  it  was  also  by  those  of  St.  John 
Francis  Regis  ;  concerning  which,  twenty-two  bishops  of  Lan- 
guedoc  wrote  thus  to  Pope  Clement  XL  :  "  We  are  witnesses 
that  betbre  the  tomb  of  F.  J.  F.  Regis,  the  blind  see,  the  lame 
walk,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dumb  speak. "IT 

You  will  understand,  dear  sir,  that  I  mention  but  a  few  of 
the  saints,  and  with  respect  to  these,  but  a  few  of  their  miracles ; 
as  my  object  is  to  prove  the  single  fact  that  God  has  illustrated 
the  Catholic  Church  with  undeniable  miracles,  chiefly  by  means 
of  his  saints,  in  the  different  ages  of  her  existence.  What  now 
will  you,  dear  sir,  and  your  friends,  say  to  the  evidence  here 
adduced  ?  Will  you  say  that  ail  the  holy  fathers,  up  to  the 
apostolic  age,  and  that  all  the  ecclesiastical  writers  down  to  the 
Reformation ;  and,  since  that  period,  that  all  the  Catholic  au- 
thors, prelates,  and  officials,  have  been  in  a  league  to  deceive 
mankind  ^  In  short,  that  they  are  all  liars  and  impostors  alike  ? 
Such,  in  fact,  is  the  absurd  and  horrible  system,  which,  to  get 
rid  of  the  DIVINE  ATTESTATION,  in  favor  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  the  celebrated  Dr.  Conyers  Middleton  has  declared  for  : 
0  3  have  most  Protestant  writers  v/ho  have  handled  the  subject, 
since  the  publication  of  his  Free  Inquiry.  This  system,  how- 
ever, whicii  is  a  libel  on  human  nature,  does  not  only  lead  to 
genera    skepticism  in  other  respects,  but  also  undermines  the 

»  Ad  Tolos.  Ep.  241. 

t  See  the  testimonies  of  Hackluyt,  Baldens,  and  Tavcrnier,  all  Protestania, 
11  Bouhoiir's  Tjife  of  St,  Xaveriu?,  translated  by  the  poet  Dryden. 
t  Ibid.  §  See  Butler's  Saints'  Lives,  May  26. 

II  See  Marsollier's  Life  of  St.  F.  de  Sales,  translated  by  Dr.  Coombes. 
IT  See  his  life  by  Duubenton,  which  is  abridged  by  Butler,  June  16. 


ATTESTATION    OF    SANCTITY.  145 

credit  of  the  Gospel  itself.  For  if  all  the  ancient  fathers  and  other 
writers  are  to  be  disbelieved,  respecting  the  miracles  of  their 
times,  and  even  those  which  they  themselves  witnessed,  upon 
what  grounds  are  we  to  believe  them,  in  their  report  of  the 
miracles  which  they  had  heard  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  those 
main  props  of  the  Gospel  and  our  common  Christianity?  Who 
knows  but  they  may  have  forged  all  the  contents  of  the  former, 
and  the  whole  history  of  the  latter  ?  It  was  impossible  that 
these  consequences  should  escape  the  penetration  of  Middleton  : 
but,  in  his  opinion,  a  worse  consequence,  namely,  a  divine  at 
testation  of  the  sanctity  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which  would  in- 
evitably follow  from  admitting  the  veracity  of  the  holy  fathers, 
banished  his  dread  of  the  former.  Let  him  now  speak  to  this 
point  for  himself,  in  his  own  flowing  periods.  He  begins  with 
establishing  an  important  fact,  which  I  also  have  been  laboring 
to  prove,  where  he  says  :  "  It  must  be  confessed,  that  the  claim 
to  a  miraculous  power  was  universally  asserted  and  believed  in 
all  Christian  countries  and  in  all  ages  of  the  church,  till  the 
time  of  the  Reformation :  for  ecclesiastical  history  makes  no 
diflference  between  one  age  and  another,  but  carries  on  the  suc- 
cession of  its  miracles,  as  of  all  other  common  events,  through 
all  of  them  indifferently  to  that  memorable  period."*  As  far 
as  "  church-historians  can  illustrate  any  thing,  there  is  not  a 
single  point,  in  all  history,  so  constantly,  explicitly,  and  unani- 
mously afRrmed  by  them,  as  the  continual  succession  of  those 
powers,  through  all  ages,  from  the  earliest  father,  who  first 
mentions  them,  down  to  the  Reformation  ;  which  same  succes- 
sion is  still  further  deduced  by  persons  of  the  same  eminent 
character  for  probity,  learning,  and  dignity,  in  the  Romish 
Church,  to  this  very  day  :  so  that  the  only  doubt  which  can  re- 
main with  us  is,  whether  church-historians  are  to  be  trusted  or 
not ;  for  if  any  credit  be  due  to  them  in  the  present  case,  it 
must  reach  to  all  or  none :  because  the  reason  for  believing 
them  in  any  one  ago,  will  be  found  to  be  of  equal  force  in  all, 
as  far  as  it  depends  on  the  character  of  the  persons  attesting,  or 
on  the  thing  attested. "f  We  shall  now  hear  Dr.  Middleton '• 
decision  on  this  weighty  matter,  and  upon  what  grounds  it  in 
formed.  He  says  :  "  The  prevailing  opinion  of  Protestants, 
namely,  of  Tillotson,  Marshall,  Dodwell,  &c.,  is  that  miracles 
continued  during  the  three  first  centuries.  Dr.  Waterland 
brings  them  down  to  the  fourth.  Dr.  Beriman  to  the  fifth. 
These  unwarily  betrayed  the  Protestant  cause  into  the  hands 
of  its  enemies :  for  it  was  in  those  primitive  ages,  particularly 
in  ihe  third,  fourth,  and  fifth,  those  flourishing  times  of  mira. 

•  Free  Inquiry,  Introduct.  Disc.  p.  xlv.  t  Ibid,  Pr«f.  p.  IS. 

13 


146  LETTER    XXin. 

cles,  in  which  the  cnief  corruptions  of  Poper} ,  monkery,  th« 
worship  of  relics,  invocations  of  saints,  prayers  for  the  dead, 
the  superstitious  use  of  images,  and  of  sacraments,  were  intro- 
duced."* "  We  shall  find,  after  the  conversion  of  the  Roman 
empire,  the  greater  part  of  their  boasted  miracles  were  wrought 
either  by  monks,  or  relics,  or  the  sign  of  the  cross,  &;c. :  where- 
fore, if  we  admit  the  miracles,  we  must  admit  the  rites  for  the 
sake  of  which  they  were  wrought :  they  both  rest  on  the  same 
bottom. "f  "Everyone  may  see  what  a  resemblance  the  pruu 
dples  and  practice  of  the  fourth  century,  as  they  are  described 
by  the  most  eminent  fathers  of  that  age,  bear  to  the  present  rites 
cfthe  Popish  Church.'^X  "When  we  reflect  on  the  surprising 
confidence  with  which  the  fathers  of  the  fourth  age  affirmed,  as 
true,  what  they  themselves  had  forged,  or  knew  to  be  forged,  i* 
is  natural  to  suspect  that  so  bold  a  defiance  of  truth  could  not 
be  acquired  or  become  general  at  once,  but  must  have  beer 
gradually  carried  to  that  height  by  the  example  of  former 
ages."§  Such  are  the  grounds  on  which  this  shameless  dis- 
claimer  accuses  all  the  most  holy  and  learned  men  whom  the 
world  has  produced  during  eighteen  hundred  years,  of  forgery 
and  a  combination  to  cheat  mankind.  He  does  not  say  a  word 
to  show  that  the  combination  itself  is  either  probable  or  possi- 
ble ;  all  he  advances  is,  that  this  libel  on  human  nature  is 
necessary  for  the  support  of  Protestantism  :  for  he  says,  and  this 
with  evident  truth :  "  By  granting  the  Romanists  but  a  single 
age  of  miracles,  after  the  time  of  the  apostles,  we  shall  be  en- 
tangled in  a  series  of  difficulties,  whence  we  can  never  fairly 
extricate  ourselves,  till  we  allow  the  same  powers  also  to  the 
present  age."|| 

Methinks  I  hear  some  of  your  society  thus  asking  me  :  Do 
you  then  pretend  that  your  church  possesses  the  miraculous  powers 
at  the  present  day? — I  answer,  that  the  church  never  possessed 
miraculous  powers,  in  the  sense  of  most  Protestant  writers,  so 
as  to  bo  able  to  eflTect  cures,  or  other  supernatural  events,  at  her 
mere  pleasure  :  for  even  the  apostles  could  not  do  this  :  as  we 
learn  from  the  history  of  the  lunatic  child.  Matt.  xvii.  16.  But 
this  I  say,  that  the  Catholic  Church,  being  always  the  beloved 
spouse  of  Christ,  Rev.  xxi.  9,  and  continuing  at  all  times  to 
bring  forth  children  of  heroical  sanctity,  God  fails  not  in  this, 
any  more  than  in  past  ages,  to  illustrate  her  and  them  by  un- 
questionable miracles.  Accordingly,  in  those  processes  which 
are  commonly  going  on,  at  the  apostolical  see,  for  the  canoniza. 
tion  of  new  saints,^  fresh  miracles  of  a  recent  date  continue  t« 

•  Free  Inquiry,  Inirod.  p.  li.  t  Ibid.  p.  Ixvi.  t  Ibid.  p.  Ixv. 

6  Ibid.  p.  Ixxxiv.  j|  Ibid.  p.  xcvi 

V  \inon£  t  e  lat«  c^^nonizaiions  are  those,  i'l  1807  and  7808,  of  St.  f 


irTESTATION    OF    SArs'CllTY.  147 

De  proved  with  the  highest  degree  of  evidence,  as  I  can  testifV 
from  having  perused,  on  the  spot,  the  official  printed  account  of 
some  of  them."*  For  the  further  satisfaction  of  your  friends,  I 
will  inform  them  that  I  have  had  satisfactory  proof,  that  the  as- 
tonishing  catastrophe  of  Louis  XVI.,  and  his  queen,  in  being 
htheaded  on  a  scaffold,  vi^as  foretold  by  a  nun  of  Fougeres,  Soe.ur 
Nativite,  twenty  years  before  it  happened  ;  and  that  the  banish- 
irent  of  the  French  clergy  from  their  country,  long  before  il 
happened,  was  predicted  by  the  holy  French  pilgrim,  Benedict 
Labrc,  whose  miracles  caused  the  conversion  of  the  late  Rev. 
Mr.  Thayer,  an  American  clergyman,  who,  during  his  resi- 
dence at  Rome,  was  an  ocular  witness  to  several  of  them.  With 
respect  to  miraculous  cures  of  a  late  date,  1  have  the  most  re. 
spectable  attestation  of  several  of  them,  and  I  am  well  acquaint- 
ed with  four  or  five  persons  who  have  experienced  them.  The 
following  facts  are  respectively  attested,  by  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Sadler,  of  Trafford,  near  Manchester,  and  the  Rev.  J.  Crathorne, 
of  Garswood,  near  Wigan  : — Joseph  Lamb,  of  Eccles,  near  Man- 
chester, on  the  12th  of  August,  1814,  fell  from  a  hay-rici ,  four 
yards  and  a  half  high,  by  which  accident  the  spine  of  hi  back 
appears  to  have  been  broken.  Certain  it  is,  that  he  could  i  thither 
walk  nor  stand  without  crutches,  down  to  the  second  of  Octobor, 
and  that  he  described  himself  as  suffering  the  most  exquisite 
pain  in  his  back.  On  that  day,  having  prevailed,  with  much 
difficulty,  upon  his  father,  who  was  then  a  Protestant,  to  take 
him  in  a  cart,  with  his  wife  and  two  friends,  Thomas  Cutler  and 
Elizabeth  Dooley,  to  Garswood,  near  Wigan,  where  the  hand 
of  F.  Arrowsmith,  one  of  the  Catholic  priests  who  suffered  death 
at  Lancaster,  for  the  exercise  of  his  religion,  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  L,  is  preserved,  and  has  often  caused  wonderful  cureS; 
he  procured  himself  to  be  conveyed  to  the  altar-rails  of  the 
chapel,  and  there  to  be  signed,  on  his  back,  with  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  by  that  hand  ;  when,  feeling  a  particular  sensation  and 
total  change  in  himself,  as  he  expressed  it,  he  exclaimed  to  his 
wife  :  Mary,  I  can  walk  ! — This  he  did,  without  any  help  what- 
ever, walking  first  into  an  adjoining  room,  and  thence  to  the  cart 
which  conveyed  him  home.  With  his  debility,  his  pains  als'^ 
left  him,  and  his  back  has  continued  well  ever  since.f     These 

Caracciolo,  founder  of  the  Regular  Clerks  ;  of  St.  Angela  de  Mercis,  found. 
r«ss  of  the  Ursuline  Nuns  ;  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Incarnation,  Mile.  Acarie,  &c 
One  of  the  latest  beatifications  is  that  of  B.  Alfonso  Liguori,  Bishop  of  St 
Agata  de  Goti. 

*  One  of  these,  proved  in  the  process  of  the  last-mentioned  saint,  consisted 
in  the  cure  and  restoration  of  an  amputated  breast  of  a  woman,  who  was  at 
tke  >oini  of  death  from  a  cancer. 

T  I'he  Rev.  Mr.  Sadler's  letter  to  mt  is  dated  August  6,  1817. 


148  LETTER    XXni. 

particulars  the  above-named  persons  all  declare  upon  oath.  I 
nave  attestations  of  incurable  cancers,  and  other  disorders,  being 
suddenly  remedied  by  the  same  instrument  of  God's  bounty  ; 
but  it  would  be  a  tedious  work  to  transcribe  them,  or  the  other 
attestations  in  my  possession  of  a  similar  nature. 

Among  those  of  my  personal  acquamtance  who  have  experi- 
enced supernatural  cures,  I  will  mention  Mary  Wood,  now 
!iving  at  Taunton  Lodge,  where  several  other  witnesses  of  the 
facts  which  I  am  going  to  state  live  with  her.  "  On  March  15, 
1309,  Mary  Wood,  in  attempting  to  open  a  sash-window,  pushed 
her  left  hand  through  a  pane  of  glass,  which  caused  a  very 
large  and  deep  transverse  wound  in  the  inside  of  the  left  arm, 
and  divided  the  muscles  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  tendons 
tiat  lead  to  the  hand ;  from  which  accident  she  not  only  suf- 
fered, at  times,  the  most  acute  pain,  but  was  from  the  period  I 
first  saw  her  (March  15)  till  some  time  in  July,  totally  deprived 
of  the  use  of  her  hand  and  arm."*  What  passed  between  the 
latter  end  of  July,  when,  as  the  surgeon  elsewnere  says,  "  he 
left  his  patient,"  having  no  hopes  of  restoring  her,  till  th«'  6th 
of  August,  on  the  night  of  which  she  was  perfectly  and  mirac- 
ulously cured,  I  shall  copy  from  a  letter  to  me,  date  Nov.  19, 
1809,  by  her  amanuensis,  Miss  Maria  Hornyold :  "  Tae  sur- 
geon gave  little  or  no  hopes  of  her  ever  again  having  the  use 
of  her  hand,  which,  together  with  the  arm,  seemed  withered 
and  somewhat  contracted ;  only  saying,  in  some  years,  nature 
might  give  her  some  little  use  of  it,  which  was  considered  by 
her  superiors  as  a  mere  delusive  comfort.  Despairing  of  fur- 
ther human  assistance  towards  her  cure,  she  determined,  with  the 
approbation  of  her  said  superiors,  to  have  recourse  to  God,  through 
the  intercession  of  St.  Winefred,  by  a  Novena.f  Accordingly, 
on  the  6th  of  August,  she  put  a  piece  of  moss,  from  the  saint's 
well,  on  her  arm,  continuing  recollected  and  praying,  &c., 
when,  to  her  great  surprise,  the  next  morning  she  found  she 
could  dress  herself,  put  her  arm  behind  her  and  to  her  head, 
having  regained  the  free  use  and  full  strength  of  it.  In  short, 
she  was  perfectly  cured !"  In  this  state  I  myself  saw  her  a 
few  years  afterwards,  when  I  examined  her  hand  ;  and  in.  the 
jame  state  she  still  continues,  at  the  above-named  place,  with 
<nany  other  highly  creditable  vouchers  who  are  ready  respect- 
ively to  attest  these  particulars.  "  On  the  16th  of  the  month, 
ihe  surgeon  was  sent  for ;  and,  being  asked  his  opinion  con. 
cerning  Mary  Wood's  arm,  he  gave  no  hope  of  a  perfect  curet 

*  This  account  is  copied  from  a  letter  to  Miss  F.  T.  Bird,  dated  Septem- 
ber 30,  1809,  by  Mr.  Woodford,  an  eminent  surgeon  of  Taunton,  who  au 
ended  Marv  Wood. 

t  Certain  prayers  con  inued  during  nine  days. 


ATTESTATION    OF    SANCTITY.  149 

and  very  little  of  her  ever  having  even  the  least  use  of  it ;  when, 
she  being  introduced  to  him  and  showing  him  the  arm,  which 
he  thoroughly  examined  and  tried,  he  was  so  affected  at  the 
sight  and  the  reci-tal  of  the  manner  of  the  cure  as  to  shed  rears, 
and  exclaim.  It  is  a  special  interposition  of  divine  Providence.''^ 
I  shall  say  little  of  the  miraculous  cure  of  Winefred  White, 
a  young  woman  of  Wolverhampton,  on  the  28th  of  June,  1805, 
at  Holy-well,  having  published  a  detailed  account  of  it  soon 
after  it  happened,  which  has  been  republished  in  England  and 
in  Ireland.*  Let  it  suffice  to  say,  1st,  that  the  disease  was  one  of 
the  most  alarming  of  a  topical  nature  of  any  that  is  known, 
namely,  a  curvature  of  the  spine,  as  her  physician  and  surgeon 
ascertained,  who  treated  it  accordingly,  by  making  two  great 
issues,  one  on  each  side  of  the  spine,  of  which  the  marks  are 
still  imprinted  on  the  patient's  back ;  2dly,  that,  besides  the 
most  acute  pains  throughout  the  whole  nervous  system,  and 
particularly  in  the  brain,  this  disease  of  the  spine  produced  a 
hemiplegia,  or  palsy,  on  one  side  of  the  patient,  so  that  when 
she  could  feebly  crawl  with  the  help  of  a  crutch  under  her 
right  arm,  she  was  forced  to  drag  her  left  leg  and  arm  after 
her,  just  as  if  they  constituted  no  part  of  her  body ;  3dly,  that 
her  disorder  was  of  long  continuance,  namely,  of  three  years* 
standing,  though  not  in  the  same  degree  till  the  latter  part  of 
that  time,  and  that  it  was  publicly  known  to  all  her  neighbors 
and  a  great  many  others;  4thly,  that  having  performed  the 
acts  of  devotion  which  she  felt  herself  called  to  undertake,  and 
having  bathed  in  the  fountain,  she,  in  one  instant  of  time,  on 
the  28th  of  June,  1805,  found  herself  freed  from  all  her  pains 
and  disabilities,  so  as  to  be  able  to  walk,  run,  and  jump  like 
any  other  young  person,  and  to  carry  a  greater  weight  with  the 
left  arm  than  she  could  with  the  right ;  5thly,  that  she  has  con- 
tinued in  this  state  these  thirteen  years  down  to  the  present 
time ;  and  that  all  the  above-mentioned  circumstances  have 
been  ascertained  by  me  in  the  regular  examination  of  the  seve- 
ral witnesses  of  them,  in  the  places  of  their  respective  resi- 
dences, namely,  in  Staffordshire,  Lancashire,  and  Wales,  they 
being  persons  of  different  counties,  no  less  than  of  different  reli- 
gions and  situations  in  life.  The  authentic  documents  of  the 
examination,  and  of  the  whole  process  of  the  cure,  are  contained 
in  the  work  referred  to  above.  Several  of  the  witnesses  are 
still  living,  as  is  Winefred  White  herself. f — I  am,  &c. 

John  Milner. 

•  By  Keating  &  Brown,  Duke-st.,  Grosvenor-sq.,  London  ;  Coyne,  Dublin 
+  She  has  since  departed  this  life,  namely,  on  ths  13th  of  January,  in  the 

year  1824,  being  the  ninctcen'ii  year  since  the  cure  of  her  hemiplegia.    Sh« 

died  of  a  consumption. 

13* 


150  LETTER    XXIV. 

LETTER  XXIV.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  EStJ 

OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 
De^.b  si  I — 

I  subscribe  to  the  objection,  which  you  say  has  been  sug 
gested  to  you  by  your  learned  friend,  on  the  subject  of  miracles, 
Namely,  I  admit  that  a  vast  number  of  incredible  and  false 
miracles,  as  well  as  other  fables,  have  been  forged  by  some, 
and  believed  by  other  Catholics  in  every  age  of  the  church,  in- 
cluding that  of  the  apostles.*  I  agree  with  him  and  you  in 
rejecting  the  Legenda  Aurea  of  Jacobus  de  Voragine,  the  Spec- 
ulum  of  Vincentius  Belluacensis,  the  Saints'  Lives  of  the  Patri- 
cian  Metaphrastes,  and  scores  of  similar  legends,  stuffed,  as  they 
are,  with  relations  of  miracles  of  every  description.  But,  sir, 
are  we  to  deny  the  truth  of  all  history,  because  there  are  num- 
berless false  histories  ?  Are  we  to  question  the  four  evangel- 
ists, because  there  have  been  several  fabricated  gospels  ?  Most 
certainly  not :  but  we  must  make  the  best  use  we  can  of  the 
discernment  and  judgment  which  God  has  given  us,  to  distin 
guish  false  accounts  of  every  kind  from  those  which  are  true ; 
and  we  ought,  I  allow,  to  make  use  of  redoubled  diligence  and 
caution,  in  examining  alleged  revelations  and  events  contrary 
to  the  general  laws  of  nature. 

Your  friend's  second  objection,  which  impeaches  the  diligence, 
integrity,  and  discernment  of  the  cardinals,  prelates,  and  other 
ecclesiastics  at  Rome,  appointed  to  examine  into  the  proofs  of 
the  miracles  there  published,  shows  that  he  is  little  acquainted 
with  the  subject  he  talks  of.  In  the  first  place,  then,  a  juridical 
examination  of  each  reported  miracle  must  be  made  in  the  place 
where  it  is  said  to  have  happened,  and  the  depositions  of  the 
several  witnesses  must  be  given  upon  oath  ;  this  examination  is 
generally  repeated  two  or  three  different  times,  at  intervals. 
In  the  next  place,  the  examiners  at  Rome  are  unquestionably 
men  of  character,  talents,  and  learning,  who,  nevertheless,  are 
not  permitted  to  pronounce  upon  any  cure  or  other  effect  in  na- 
ture,  till  they  have  received  a  regular  report  of  physicians  anc 
naturalists  upon  it.  So  far  from  being  precipitate,  t  employs 
them  whole  years  to  come  to  a  decision,  on  a  few  cases,  respect- 
ing each  saint ;  this  is  printed  and  handed  about  among  indiffer- 
ent persons,  previously  to  its  being  laid  before  the  pope.  In 
short,  so  strict  is  the  examination,  that,  according  to  an  Italian 

*  St.  Jerom,  in  rejecting  certain  current  fables  concerning  St.  Paul  and 
St.  Thccla,  mentions  a  priest  who  was  deposed  by  St.  John  the  Evangelist, 
for  inventing  similar  stories. — De  Script.  Apost.  Pope  Gelasius,  in  the  fifth 
''entury,  condemned  several  apochryphal  gospels  and  epistles,  as  also  several 
( tlee  legends  of  saints,  and  among  the  latter,  the  common  ones  of  St.  George- 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  15i 

provf;rb,  it  is  next  to  a  miracle  to  get  a  miracle  proved  at  Rome. 
It  is  reported  by  F.  Daubenton,  that  an  English  Protestant  gen- 
tleman,  meeting,  in  that  city,  with  a  printed  process  of  forty 
miracles,  which  had  been  laid  before  the  congregation  of  rites, 
to  w  lich  thj  3xamination  of  them  belonged,  was  so  well  satis- 
fied with  the  respective  proofs  of  them,  as  to  express  a  wish 
♦hat  Ron  e  would  never  allow  of  any  miracles,  but  such  as  were 
AS  strongly  proved  as  those  appeared  to  be,  when,  to  his  great 
surprise,  he  was  informed  that  every  one  of  those  had  been  re- 
jected by  Rome,  as  not  sufficiently  proved  ! 

Nor  can  I  admit  of  the  third  objection  of  your  friend,  by  which 
he  rejects  our  miracles,  on  the  alleged  ground,  that  there  was 
not  sufficient  cause  for  the  performance  of  them ;  for,  r>ot  to 
mention  that  many  of  them  were  performed  for  the  convt  rsion 
of  infidels,  I  am  bound  to  cry  out  with  the  apostle,  "Who  hath 
known  the  mind  of  the  Lord,  or  who  hath  been  his  counsellor  !" 
Rom.  xi.  34.  Thus  much  is  certain  from  Scripture,  that  the 
same  Deity  who  preserved  Jonas  in  the  whale's  belly  to  preach 
repentance  to  the  Ninevites,  created  a  gourd  to  shelter  his  head 
from  the  heat  of  the  sun,  (Jonas  iv.  6,)  and  that  as  he  sent  fire 
from  heaven  to  save  his  prophet  Elias,  so  he  caused  iron  to 
swim,  in  order  to  enable  the  son  of  a  prophet  to  restore  the  axe 
which  had  been  borrowed.  2  Kings,  vi.  6.  In  like  manner, 
we  are  not  to  reject  miracles,  sufficiently  proved,  under  a  pre- 
text that  they  are  mean,  and  unworthy  the  hand  of  Omnipo- 
tence ;  for  we  are  assured,  that  God  equally  turned  the  dust  of 
Egypt  into  lice,  and  the  waters  of  it  into  blood.     Exod.  viii. 

Having  lately  perused  the  works  of  several  of  the  most  cele- 
brated Protestant  writers,  who,  in  defending  the  Scripture-mira- 
cles, endeavored  to  invalidate  the  credit  of  those  they  are  pleased 
to  call  Popish  miracles,  I  think  it  just,  both  to  your  cause  and 
my  own,  to  state  the  chief  arguments  they  make  use  of,  and 
the  answers  which  occur  to  me  in  refutation  of  them.  On  this 
head,  I  cannot  help  expressing  my  surprise  and  concern  that 
writers  of  character,  and  some  of  them  of  high  dignity,  should 
have  published  several  gross  falsehoods,  not,  I  trust,  intention- 
ally, but  from  the  blind  precipitancy  and  infatuation  which  a 
panic  fear  of  Popery  generally  produces.  The  late  learned 
Bishop  of  Salisbury,  Dr.  J.  Douglas,  has  borrowed  from  the 
infidel  Gibbon  what  he  cal  .s,  "  A  most  satisfying  proof  that  the 
miracles  ascribed  to  the  Romish  saints  are  forgeries  cf  an  age 
posterior  to  that  they  lay  claim  to."*  The  latter  says,  "  It  may 
seem  remarkable,  that  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  who  lecords  so 

*  The  criterion,  or  rules,  by  which  the  true  miracles  of  the  New  Testa, 
ment  are  distinguished  from  the  spurious  miracles  of  pagans  and  papists,  b 
John  Douglas,  D.  D.,  Lord  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  p.  71,  note 


152  LETTER    XXIV. 

many  miracles  of  his  friend  St.  Malachy,  never  takes  notice  of 
his  own,  which,  in  their  turn,  however,  are  carefully  related  by 
his  companions  and  disciples.  In  the  long  series  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal history,  does  there  occur  an  instance  of  a  satnt  asserting 
that  he  himself  possessed  the  gift  of  miracles  ?"*  Adopting  this 
obiection,  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury  says :  "  I  may  safely  chal- 
lenge the  admirers  of  the  Romish  saints  to  produce  any  writing 
of  any  of  them,  in  which  a  power  of  working  miracles  is 
claimed. "f  Elsewhere  he  says:  "From  Xaverius  himself 
(namely,  from  his  published  letters)  we  are  furnished,  not  only 
with  a  negative  evidence  against  his  having  any  miraculous 
power,  but  also  with  a  positive  fact,  which  is  the  strongest  pos- 
sible presumption  against  it. "J  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the 
confident  assertions  of  these  celebrated  authors,  it  is  certain 
(though  the  last  tilings  which  true  saints  choose  to  speai;  of  are 
their  own  supernatural  favors)  that  several  of  them,  when  the 
occasion  required  it,  have  spoken  of  the  miracles  of  which  they 
were  the  instruments  ;§  and,  among  the  rest,  these  two  identical 
saints,  St.  Bernard  and  St.  Francis  Xaverius,  whom  Gibbon 
and  Dr.  Douglas  instance  to  prove  their  assertion.  I  have 
already  referred  to  the  passages  in  the  works  of  St.  Bernard, 
where  he  speaks  of  his  miracles  as  of  notorious  facts,  and  I  here 
again  insert  them  in  a  note.||  With  respect  to  St.  Xaverius,  he 
not  only  mentions,  in  those  very  letters  which  Dr.  Douglas  appeals 
to,  a  miraculous  cure,  which  he  wrought  upon  a  dying  woman 
in  the  kingdom  of  Travancor,  but  he  expressly  calls  it  a  mira- 
cle, and  affirms  that  it  caused  the  conversion  of  the  whole  vil- 
lage in  which  she  resided. IT 

A  second  palpable  falsehood  is  thus  confidently  advanced  by 
the  capital  enemy  of  miracles.  Dr.  Middleton :  "  I  might  risk 
the  merit  of  my  argument  on  this  single  point,  that,  after  the 
apostolic  times,  there  is  not,  in  all  history,  one  instance,  either 

*  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  chap.  xv. 

t  Criterion,  p.  369.  I  Ibid.  p.  76. 

§  The  great  St.  Martin  acknowledged  his  own  miracles,  since,  according 
to  his  friend  and  biographer,  Sulpicius,  Dialogue  2,  he  used  to  say  that  he 
was  not  endowed  with  so  great  a  power  of  working  them,  after  he  was  a 
a  bishop,  as  he  had  been  before. 

II  Addressing  himself  to  P.  Eugeniiis  III.,  in  answer  to  his  enemies,  whc 
reproached  him  with  the  ill  success  of  the  second  crusade,  he  says  :  "  Sed 
dicunt  forsitan  isti :  Unde  scimus  quod  a  Domino  sermo  egressus  sit  ?  Qua 
eigna  tufacis  ut  credamus  tibi?  Non  est  quod  ad  ista  i»)se  respondeam 
parcendum  verecundiae  meae  :  responde  tu  pro  me  et  pro  '.  ipso,  secundum 
ea  qasD  vidisti  et  audisti." — De  Consid.l.  ii.  c.  1.  In  like  manner,  writing  te 
the  people  of  Thoulouse,  of  his  miracles  wrought  there,  he  says :  "  Mor* 
quidem  brevis  apud  vos  sed  non  infructuosa  :  veritate  nirnirum  per  nos  m»p 
ifestatS.,  non  solum  in  sermoie  sed  etiam  in  virtute." — Ep  241. 

T  Epist.  S.  F.  Xaq.  1.  i.  e ).  iv. 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWflRED.  158 

well  attested,  or  even  so  much  as  mentioned,  of  any  particular 
person  who  had  ever  exercised  that  gift,  (of  tongues,)  or  pre- 
tended to  exercise  it,  in  any  age  or  country  whatsoever."*  In 
case  your  learned  friend  is  disposed  to  take  up  the  cause  of 
M iddleton,  I  beg  to  refer  him  to  the  history  of  St.  Pacomius,  the 
Egyptian  abbot,  and  founder  of  the  Cenobites,  who,  "though  he 
never  learned  the  Greek  or  Latin  language,  yet  sometimes  mi- 
raculously spoke  them  both,"  as  his  disciple  and  biographer 
reports  ;t  and  to  that  of  the  renowned  preacher,  St.  Vincent 
Ferrer,  who,  having  the  gift  of  tongues,  preached  indifferently 
to  Jews,  Moors,  and  Christians,  in  their  respective  languages, 
and  converted  incredible  numbers  of  each  of  these  descriptions.:]: 
In  like  manner,  the  bull  of  the  canonization  of  St.  Lewis  Ber- 
trand,  A.D.  1671,  declares  that  he  possessed  the  gift  of  tongues, 
by  means  of  which  he  converted  as  many  as  10,000  Indians  of 
different  tribes  in  South  America,  in  the  space  of  three  years. ^ 
Lastly,  let  your  friend  peruse  the  history  of  the  great  Apost'a 
of  the  East  Indies,  St.  Xaverius,  who,  though  he  ordinari  y 
studied  the  languages  of  the  several  nations  to  whom  he  an- 
nounced the  word  of  God,  yet  on  particular  occasions,  he  was 
empowered  to  speak  those  which  he  had  not  learned.  ||  This 
was  the  case  in  Travancor,  as  his  companion  Vaz  testifies  ;  so 
as  to  enable  him  to  convert  and  instruct  10,000  infidels,  all  of 
whom  he  baptized  with  his  own  hand.  This  was  the  case 
again  at  Amanguchi,  in  Japan,  where  he  met  with  a  number  of 
Chinese  merchants.  Finally,  the  bull  of  St.  Xaverius's  canoni- 
zation by  Urban  VIII.  proclaims  to  the  world,  that  this  saint 
was  illustrated  with  the  gift  of  tongues.  So  false  is  the  bold 
assertion  of  Middleton,  adopted  in  part  by  Bishop  Douglas  and 
other  Protestants,  that  "  there  is  not,  in  all  history,  one  instance, 
either  well  attested,  or  so  much  as  mentioned,  of  any  person 
who  had  ever  exercised  the  gift  of  tongues,  or  pretended  to  ex- 
ercise it." 

Nor  is  there  more  truth  in  what  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  Dr. 
Paley,  &c.,  maintain,  namely,  that  "  the  Popish  miracles,"  aa 
tney  insultingly  call  them,  "were  not  wrought  to  confirm  any 
t_*uth,  and  that  no  converts  were  made  by  them  !"ir  In  refuta- 
tion of  this,  I  may  again  refer  to  the  epitaph  of  our  apostle,  St. 
Augustin,  and  to  the  miracles  of  St.  Bernard  at  Sarlat,  men- 
tioned above.     To  these  instances,  I  may  add  the  prodigy  of 

*  Inquiry  into  Mirac.  Powers,  p.  120,  &c. 

t  Tillemonl.  Mem.  Ecc.  torn.  vii. 

t  See  his  Life  by  Lanzano,  Bishop  of  Lucca,  also  Spondanus  ad  An.  1403 

§  See  Alban  Butler's  Saints'  Lives,  Oct.  9. 

y  See  Bouhour's  Life  of  St.  Xaverius,  translated  by  Dryden,  &c. 

f  Criteif  3n,  p.  369.    View  of  Evidences,  by  Dr.  Paley  vol.  i.  p.  34fi 


154  LETTER    XXIV. 

St.  Dominic,  who,  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  Catholic  doct  me, 
*hre\v  a  book  containing  it  into  the  fiames,  in  which  it  remainoa 
unconsumed  ;  at  the  same  time  challenging  the  heretics,  whom 
he  was  addressing,  to  make  the  same  experiment  on  their  creed.* 
In  like  manner,  St.  Xaverius,  on  a  certain  occasion,  finding  his 
words  to  have  no  effect  on  his  Indian  auditory,  requested  them 
.0  open  the  grave  of  a  corpse  that  had  been  buried  the  day  be- 
fore, when  falling  on  his  knees,  he  besought  God  to  restore  it  to 
life  for  the  conversion  of  the  infidels  present ;  upon  which,  the 
dead  man  was  instantly  restored  to  life  and  perfect  health,  and 
the  country  round  about  received  the  faith. f 

It  is  chiefly  through  the  sides  of  the  Apostle  of  India,  that  the 
author  of  The  Criterion  endeavors  to  wound  the  credit  of  the 
other  saints,  and  the  Catholic  Church,  on  the  point  of  miracles. 
Hence,  in  the  application  of  his  three  labored  rules  of  criticism, 
he  objects,  that  the  alleged  miracles  of  St.  Xaverius  were  per- 
formed in  the  extremities  of  the  east ; — that  the  accounts  of 
them  were  published,  not  on  the  spot,  but  in  Europe,  at  an  im- 
mense distance ; — and  this  not  till  thirty-five  years  after  the 
saint's  death. J  A  single  document,  of  the  most  public  nature, 
at  once  overturns  all  the  three  rules  in  regard  of  this  saint. 
He  died  at  the  end  of  1552 ;  and  on  the  28th  of  March,  1556, 
a  letter  was  sent  from  Lisbon  by  John  III.,  King  of  Portugal,  to 
his  viceroy  in  India,  Don  Francisco  Baretto,  "  enjoining  him  to 
take  depositions  upon  oath,  in  all,  parts  of  the  Indies,  where 
there  is  a  probability  of  finding  witnesses,  not  only  concerning 
the  life  and  manners  of  Francis  Xaverius,  and  of  all  the  things 
commendably  done  by  him,  for  the  salvation  and  example  of 
men,  but  also  concerning  the  miracles  which  he  has  wrought, 
both  living  and  dead.  You  shall  send  these  authentic  instru 
ments,  with  all  the  evidences  and  proofs,  signed  with  your  hand  ■ 
writing,  and  sealed  with  your  ring,  by  three  different  convey. 
ances."§ 

But  the  author  of  the  Criterion,  it  seems,  has  more  positive, 
and  what  he  calls  "  conclusive  evidence,  that  during  this  time 

•  Petrus  Valis  Cern.  Hist.     Alb.  Butler's  Sainis'  Lives,  Aug.  4. 

t  Tins  was  one  of  the  miracles  referred  to  by  the  Paravas  of  Cape  Como- 
rin,  when  the  Dutch  sent  a  mini-ter  from  Batavia,  to  proselyte  them  to  Pro. 
testantism.  On  this  occasion,  they  answered  this  minister's  discourse  thus* 
•*  The  great  father  (St.  Xaverius)  raised  to  life  five  or  six  dead  persons ;  do 
you  raise  twice  as  many;  do  you  cure  all  our  sick,  and  make  the  sea  twice 
AS  productive  of  fish  as  it  now  is,  and  then  we  will  listen  to  you."  Du 
H»ide*s  Recueil,  vol.  v.  Berault's  Bercasile's  Hist.  Ecc.  torn,  xxiii.  p.  454. 

I  Criler.  pp.  78,  81. 

§  This  letter  is  extant  in  Tersellinus,  but  had  been  published  several  years 
befor(>  by  Emanuel  Acosta,  in  his  Keruin  in  Oriente  Gestarum.  Dilingen« 
1671.     Paris.  1572. 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  155 

(thirty-five  years  from  his  death)  Xaverius's  miracles  had  not 
been  hoard  of.  The  evidence,"  he  says,  "  I  shall  allege,  is 
that  of  Acosta,  (namely  Joseph  Acosta,)  who  himself  had  been 
a  missionary  among  the  Indians.  His  work.  Be  Procuranda 
Indorum  Salute^  was  printed  in  1589,  that  is,  about  thirty-seven 
years  after  the  death  of  Xaverius,  and  in  it  we  find  an  express 
acknowledgment  that  no  miracles  had  ever  been  performed  by 
missionaries  among  the  Indians. — Acosta  was  himself  a  Jesuit, 
and  therefore  from  his  silence,  we  may  infer  unexceptionably, 
that  between  thirty  and  forty  years  had  elapsed  before  Xave- 
rius's miracles  were  thought  of"* — The  argument  has  been 
thought  so  conclusive,  that  Mr.  Le  Mesurier,j  Hugh  Farmer,J 
the  Rev.  Peter  Roberts,§  and  other  Protestant  writers  on  mira- 
cles, have  adopted  it  with  exultation,  and  it  has  probably  con- 
tributed as  much  to  the  author's  title  of  Detector  Douglas,  as  his 
exposure  of  the  two  impostors,  Lauder  and  Archibald  Bower. 
But  what  will  the  admirers  of  this  Detector  say,  if  it  should  ap- 
pear that  Acosta  barely  says,  that  "  there  was  not  the  same  fac- 
ulty or  facility  of  working  miracles  among  the  missionaries, 
which  there  was  among  the  apostles  ?"||  Or  rather,  what  will 
they  say,  if  this  same  Acosta,  in  the  very  work  which  Dr. 
Douglas  quotes,  expressly  asserts,  that  signs  and  miracles  too 
numerous  to  be  related,  accompanied  the  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West  Indies  in  his  oimi  time  .'IT 
And  when,  with  respect  to  this  illustrious  personage,  he  further 
adds,  "  Blessed  Father  Francis,"  as  he  calls  him,  "  being  a  man  of 
an  apostolical  life,  so  many  and  such  great  signs  have  been  re- 
ported of  him  by  numerous  and  credible  witnesses,  that  hardly 
more  in  number  or  greater  in  magnitude  are  read  of  any  one, 
except  the  apostles.**  Now  all  this  I  affirm  Acosta  does  say,  in 
the  very  work  quoted  by  Bishop  Douglas,  a  copy  of  which,  I 
beg  leave  to  inform  your  learned  friend,  (and  through  him,  other 
learned  men,)  is  to  l3e  found  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford, 
under  the  title  which  I  insert  below.ff     The  author  of  The  Cri- 

*  Criterion,  p.  73.  t  Bampton  Lectures,  p.  288. 

t  Dissertation  on  Miracles,  p.  205.  §  Observations  on  a  pamphlet, 

II  "  Altera  causa  in  nobis  est  cur  apostolica  praedicatio  institui  omnino  non 
jiossit  Apostolic^,  quod  miraculorum  nulla /acu/^as  sit,  quae  apostoli  plurin^a 
perpetrarunt. ' — Acosta,  de  Proc.  1.  ii.  c.  8. 

T  '*  Et  quidem  dona  spiritus  signa  et  miracula,  quae  fidei  praedicaticne  iiu 
PiOtuerunt,  his  etiam  temporihus,  quando  charitas,  usque  adeo  refrixit,  ennu. 
merare  longum  esset,  turn  in  Orientali  ilia  India,  turn  in  hac  Occidentali."— 
De  Procur.  1.  i.  c.  6.  p.  141. 

**  '*  Convertamus  oculos  in  nostri  saeculi  hominen,  B.  Magistrum  Fran, 
ciscum,  virum  apostolicae  vitae,  cujus  tot  et  tarn  magna  eigna  referuntur  ppr 
plurimos,  eosque  idoneos  testes,  ut  vix  de  alio,  exceptis  apostolis,  plura  le- 
gantur.  Quid  Magister  Caspar  aliique  soeii,  &c." — De  Procur.  Ind.  Salut. 
1.  ii.  c.  10,  p.  226. 

ft  The  work  of  Toseph  Acosfa,  rVr  Pmcurandn  Tndtrrnm  Salute^  is  to  o» 


156  LETTER    XXIV. 

tet'ion  is  hardly  entitled  to  more  mercy,  for  his  cavils  on  what 
Ribadoneira  says  of  the  miracles  of  St.  Ignatius,  than  for  tho^e 
on  what  Acosta  says  ot  the  miracles  of  St.  Xaverius.  The 
fact  is,  the  Council  of  Trent,  having  recently  prohibited  the  pub- 
lication of  any  new  miracles,  until  they  had  been  examined  and 
approved  of  by  the  proper  ecclesiastical  authority,  Ribadeneira 
in  the  first  edition  of  his  Life  of  St.  Ignatius,  observed  due  cau 
tion  in  speaking  of  this  saint's  miracles.  However,  in  that  verj 
edition,  he  declared  that  many  such  had  been  wrought  by  him , 
which  having  been  afterwards  juridically  proved,  in  the  process 
of  the  saint's  canonization,  his  biographer  published  them  with- 
out scruple,  as  he  candidly  and  satisfactorily  informs  his  read- 
ers, in  that  third  edition  ;  which  now  stands  in  his  folio  work  of 
The  Saints^  Lives.* 

I  shall  close  this  very  long  letter  with  a  very  few  words  re- 
specting a  work  which  has  lately  appeared,  animadverting  on 
my  account  of  the  Miraculous  i^ure  of  Wmefred  White.*  The 
writer  sets  out  with  the  system  ot  Dr.  Mludleton,  by  admitting 
none  except  Scripture  miracles  ;  but  very  soon  he  undermines 
these  miracles  also,  where  he  says :  "An  independent  and  ex- 
press uivine  testimony  is  that  alone,  which  can  assure  us  whe- 
ther eifects  are  miraculous  or  not,  except  in  a  few  cases."  He 
thus  reserves  the  proofs  of  Ciiristianity,  as  its  advocates  and  its 
divine  Founder  himself  have  laid  them  down.  He  adds  :  "No 
mortal  ought  to  have  the  presumption  to  say,  a  thing  is  or  is 
not  contrary  to  the  established   laws  of  nature."     Again   he 

inquired  for  at  the  Bodleian  Library  under  the  following  quaint  title:  Johanna 
Papissa  toti  orbi  manifesta,  8vo.  c.  29.  Art.  Seld.,  because,  for  some  reason 
or  other,  ii  is  bound  up  with  that  fanatical  treatise. 

*  "  Mihi  tantum  abest  ut  ad  vitam  Ignatii  iilustrandam  miracula  deese  vi. 
deantur,  ut  multa  eaque  praestantissihia  judicem  in  media  luce  versari." 
The  writer  proceeds  to  mention  several  cures,  &c.  edit.  1572. — I  cannot 
close  this  article  without  protesting  against  the  disingenuity  of  several  Pro. 
testant  writers,  in  reproaching  Catholics  with  thv  impositions  practised  by 
the  Jansenist  heretics  at  the  tomb  of  Abbe  Paris.  In  fact,  who  detected 
those  impositions,  and  furnished  Dr.  Campbell,  Dr.  Douglas,  &,c.,  with  argu- 
ments against  them,  except  our  Catholic  prelates  and  theologians  ?  In  like 
manner,  Catholics  have  reason  to  complain  of  these  and  other  Protestant 
writers,  for  the  manner  in  which  they  discuss  the  stupendous  miracle  that 
took  place  at  Saragossa  in  1640,  on  one  Michael  Pellicer,  whose  leg,  having 
been  amputated,  he,  by  his  prayers,  obtained  a  new,  natural  leg  •  just  as  if 
this  miracle  rested  on  no  better  foundation  than  the  slight  mei  tion  which 
Cardinal  Retz  makes  of  it  in  his  Memoirs.  In  fact,  we  might  have  expected 
that  learned  divines  would  have  known  that  this  miracle  had  been  amply 
discussed,  soon  after  it  happened,  between  Dr.  Siillingfleet  and  the  Jesuit 
Edward  Worsley  ;  in  which  discussion,  the  latter  produced  such  attestation* 
of  the  fact  as  it  seems  impossible  to  discredit. — See  Reascn  and  Religion 
p.  328. 

t  By  the  Rev.  Peter  Roberts,  Rector  cf  Llananaon,  &,c. 


CATHOLICITY.  i.b'^ 

says :  "  To  prove  a  miracle  there  must  be  a  proof  of  the  par 
tioular  divine  agency."  According  to  this  system  we  may 
rfay :  No  one  knows  but  the  motion  of  the  funeral  procession, 
or  some  occult  quality  of  nature,  raised  to  life  the  widow  of 
Nairn's  son  !  Mr.  Roberts  will  have  no  difficulty  in  saying  so 
as  he  denies  tliat  the  resurrection  of  the  murdered  man  from 
the  touch  of  the  prophet  Elisha's  bones,  2  Kings,  xiii.,  was  a 
miracle !  Possessed  of  this  opinion,  he  can  readily  persuade 
himself,  that  a  curvated  spine  and  hemiplegia,  or  any  other 
disease  whatever,  may  be  cured  in  an  instant,  by  immersion  in 
cold  water,  or  by  any  other  means.  As  it  is  not  likely,  how- 
ever, that  any  one  else  will  adopt  his  opinion,  I  will  say  no 
more  of  his  physical  arguments  on  this  subject. — He  next  pro- 
ceeds to  charge  W.  White  and  her  friends  with  a  studied  impo- 
sition ;  in  support  of  which  charge,  he  asserts,  that  "  the  Church 
of  Rome  had  not  announced  a  miracle  for  many  years."  This 
only  proves,  that  his  ignorance  of  what  is  continually  going  on 
in  the  church,  is  equal  to  his  bigotry  against  it.  The  same 
ignorance  and  bigotry  are  manifested  in  the  ridiculous  story 
concerning  Sixtus  V.,  which  he  copies  from  the  unprincipled 
Leti,  as  also  in  his  account  of  the  exploded  and  condemned 
book,  the  Taxce  Cancellarice,  &c.*  Towards  the  conclusion  of 
his  work,  he  expresses  a  doubt  whether  I  have  read  Bishof 
IJouglas's  Criterion,  though  I  have  so  frequently  quoted  it , 
because,  he  says,  if  I  had  read  it,  I  must  have  known  that 
Acosta  proves  that  St.  Xavf/rius  wrought  no  miracles  among  the 
Indians,  and  that  the  same  thing  appears  from  the  saint's  own 
letters.  Now  the  only  thing,  dear  sir,  which  these  assertions 
prove,  is  that  Mr.  Robert'^  himself,  no  more  than  Bishop  Doug- 
las, ever  read  either  Aoosta's  work,  or  St.  Xaverius's  letters, 
notwithstanding  they  sc  frequently  I'efer  to  them ;  for  this  is 
the  only  way  of  acquitting  them  of  a  far  heavier  charge. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XXV.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.  &c. 

ON  THE  TRUE  CHURCH  BEING  CATHOLIC. 

Pear  sir — 

In  treating  of  this  third  mark  of  the  true  church,  as  expres?Rd 
in  our  common  creed,  I  feel  my  spirits  sink  within  me,  and  I 
PHP  almost  tempted  to  throw  away  my  pen,  in  despair.  For 
H^hat  chance  is  there  of  opening  the  eyes  of  candid  Protenap'«i 

*  Eaaeb.  Eccles.  Hist. !.  \'.  c.  15. 
14 


l.')8  LETTER    XXV. 

to  the  other  marks  of  the  church,  if  they  are  capable  of  keeping 
them  shut  to  this  ?  Every  time  they  address  the  God  of  truth, 
either  in  solemn  worship  or  in  private  devotion,  *hey  are  forced, 
each  of  them,  to  repeal :  I  believe  in  THE  CATHOLIC  Church; 
and  yet  if  1  ask  any  of  them  the  question  :  Are  you  a  Catholic  ? 
ie  is  sure  to  answer  me  :  No  I  am  a  PROTESTANT!  Was 
here  ever  a  more  glaring  instance  of  inconsistency  and  self- 
condemnation  among  rational  beings  ! 

At  the  first  promulgation  of  the  Gospel,  its  followers  weie 
distmguished  from  the  Jews  by  the  name  of  Christians,  as  wo 
learn  from  Scripture,  Acts,  xi.  26.  Hence  the  title  of  Catholic 
did  not  occur  in  the  primitive  edition  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  ;* 
but  no  sooner  did  heresies  and  schisms  arise,  to  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  church,  than  there  was  found  to  be  a  necessity  of 
oiscriminating  the  main  stock  of  her  faithful  children,  to  whom 
the  promises  of  Christ  belonged,  from  those  self-willed  choosers 
of  their  articles  of  belief,  as  the  word  heretic  signifies,  and  from 
those  disobedient  separatists,  as  the  word  schismatic  means.  For 
this  purpose  the  title  of  CATHOLIC,  or  Universal.,  was  adopted, 
and  applied  to  the  true  church  and  her  children.  Accordingly, 
we  find  it  used  by  the  immediate  disciples  of  the  apostles,  as  a 
distinguishmg  mark  of  the  true  church.  One  of  these  was  the 
illustrious  martyr  St.  Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  who,  writing 
to  the  church  of  Smyrna,  expressly  says,  that  "  Christ  is  where 
the  Catholic  Church  is."  In  like  manner,  the  same  Church  of 
Smyrna,  giving  a  relation  of  the  martyrdom  of  that  holy  bishop 
St.  Polycarp,  who  was  equally  a  disciple  of  the  apostles,  ad- 
dresses it  to  "  The  Catholic  Churches. "f  This  characteristic 
title  of  the  true  church  continued  to  be  pointed  out  by  the  suc- 
ceeding fathers  in  their  writings  and  the  acts  of  their  councils.^ 
St.  Cyril,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  4th  century,  gives  the 
following  direction  to  his  pupils  :  "  If  you  go  into  any  city,  do 
not  ask  merely.  Where  is  the  church,  or  house  of  God?  because 
the  heretics  pretend  to  have  this  :  but  ask.  Which  is  the  Catholic 
Church?  because  this  title  belongs  alone  to  our  holy  mother. "^ 
'*  We,"  says  a  father  of  the  5th  century,  "  are  called  Catholic 
Christians. "II  His  contemporary,  St.  Pacian,  describes  himself 
vs  follows :  •'  Christian  is  my  name,  Catholic  is  my  surname  :  by 
ihe  former  I  am  called,  by  the  latter  I  am  distinguished.  By 
che  name  of  Catholic,  our  society  is  distinguished  from  all  here* 
ik:«."ir     But  there  is  not  one  of  the  fathers  or  doctors  of  anti- 

*  See  four  collated  copies  of  it  in  Dupin's  Bib.  Eccl.  torn.  1. 
t  Euseb.  Ecc.  Hist.  1.  iv.  c.  15. 

X  SS.  Justin  Clem.  Alex.  Appolin.  1  Nicaean  can.  8.  I.  Constan  can. 
i   &,c.  §  Catech.  18.  ||  Salvia  de  Gubern.  Dei.  1.  iv 

t  St.  Pacia  i,  Ep.  i.  ad  Symp. 


ATHOLICITY.  159 

^ify,  who  enlaiges  so  copiously  or  so  pointedly  on  this  title  of 
,he  true  church,  as  the  great  St.  Augustin,  who  died  in  the  early 
part  of  the  5th  century.     "  Many  things,"  he  says,  "  detain 

me  in  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church the  very  name  of 

'CATHOLIC  detains  me  in  it,  which  she  has  so  happily  pre- 
served amidst  the  different  heretics  ;  that  whereas  they  are  all 
desirous  of  being  called  Catholics,  yet,  if  any  stranger  were  to 
ask  them.  Which  is  the  assembly  of  the  Catholics  ?  none  of  them 
would  dare  to  point  out  his  own  place  of  worship."*  To  the  same 
purpose,  he  says  elsewhere  :  "  We  must  hold  fast  the  commu- 
nion of  that  church  which  is  called  Catholic,  not  only  by  her 
own  children,  but  also  by  all  her  enemies.  For  heretics  and 
schismatics,  whether  they  will  or  not,  when  they  are  speaking 
of  the  Catholic  Church  with  strangers,  or  with  their  own  people, 
call  her  by  the  name  of  Catholic,  inasmuch  as  they  would  not 
De  understood,  if  they  did  not  call  her  by  the  name  by  which  all 
the  world  calls  her."f  In  proportion  to  their  affection  for  the 
glorious  name  of  Catholic,  is  the  aversion  of  these  primitive  doc- 
tors, to  every  ecclesiastical  name  or  title  derived  from  particu- 
lar persons,  countries,  or  opinions.  "  What  new  heresy,"  says 
St.  Vincent  of  Lerins,  in  the  6th  century,  "  ever  sprouted  up, 
without  bearing  the  name  of  its  founder,  the  date  of  its  origin," 
&LG.X  St.  Justin,  the  philosopher  and  martyr,  had  previously 
made  the  same  remark  in  the  second  century,  with  respect  to 
the  Marcionite,  Valentinian,  and  other  heretics  of  his  time.^ 
Fintttly,  the  nervous  St.  Jerom  lays  down  the  following  rule  on 
this  subject :  "  We  must  live  and  die  in  that  church,  which, 
haviitg  been  founded  by  the  apostles,  continues  down  to  the  pre- 
sent day.  If,  then,  you  should  hear  of  any  Christians  not 
deriving  their  name  from  Christ,  but  from  some  other  founder, 
as  the  Marcionites,  the  Valentinians,  &c.,  be  persuaded  that 
they  are  not  of  Christ's  society,  but  of  Antichrist's. "|| 

I  now  appeal  to  you,  dear  sir,  and  to  the  respectable  friends 
who  are  accustomed  to  deliberate  with  you  on  religious  subjects, 
whether  these  observations  and  arguments  of  the  ancient  fathers 
are  not  as  strikingly  true  in  this  19th  century,  as  they  were  dur- 
ing the  six  first  centuries,  in  which  they  wrote  1  Is  there  not 
among  ihe  rival  churches,  one  exclusively  known  and  distin- 
guished by  the  name  and  title  of  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH, 
Rs  well  in  EiUgland,  Holland,  and  other  countries,  which  'protest 
igainst  this  church,  as  in  those  which  adhere  to  it  ?  Does  not 
Uiis  efTulgent  mark  of  the  true  religion  so  incontestably  belong 

*  Contra.  Epist.  Fundam.  c.  1.  t  De  Ver.  Relig.  c.  7. 

X  Common.  Advers.  Haer.  c  34.  §  Advers.  Tryphon. 

U  Advers.  Luciferan. 


160  LETTER  XXVI. 

to  US,  in  spite  of  eAcry  effort  to  obscure  it  by  the  nick-names  of 
Papists,  Romanists.  vi:c.,*  that  the  rule  of  St.  Cyril  and  St.  Au- 
gustin  is  as  good  and  certain  now,  as  it  was  in  their  times  ? 
What  I  mean  is  this:  if  any  stranger  in  London,  Edinburgh,  or 
Amsterdam,  were  to  ask  his  way  to  the  Catholic  chapel,  I  would 
risk  my  life  for  it,  that  no  sober  Protestant  inhabitant  would 
direct  him  to  any  other  place  of  worship  than  to  ours.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  notorious,  that  the  different  sects  of  Protestants, 
tike  the  heretics  and  schismatics  of  old,  are  denominated  either 
from  tlieir  founders,  as  the  Lutherans,  the  Calvinists,  the  Socin- 
lans,  6lc.,  or  from  the  countries  in  which  they  prevail,  as  the 
Church  of  England,  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  the  Moravians,  &c.; 
or  from  some  novelty  in  their  belief  or  practice,  as  the  Anabap- 
tists, the  Independents,  the  Quakers,  &c.  The  first  father  of 
Protestants  was  so  sensible  that  he  and  they  were  destitute  of 
every  claim  to  the  title  of  Catholic,  that  in  translating  the  Apos- 
tles' Creed  into  Dutch,  he  substituted  the  word  Christian  for 
that  of  Catholic.  The  first  Lutherans  did  the  same  thing  in 
their  catechism,  for  which  they  are  reproached  by  the  famous 
Fulke,  who,  to  his  own  confusion,  proves  that  me  true  church 
of  Chiist  must  be  Catholic  in  name,  as  well  as  in  substance.'f 

I  am,  dear  sir,  6dc. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XXVL— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  «fcc 

ON  THE  QUALITIES  OF  CATHOLICITY. 

Dear  sir — 

To  proceed  now,  from  the  name  Catholic,  to  the  signification 
of  that  name  :  this  is  to  be  gathered  from  the  etymology  of  the 
word  itself,  and  from  the  sense  in  which  the  apostolical  fathers 
and  other  doctors  of  the  church  have  constantly  used  it.  It  is 
derived  from  the  Greek  word  KaOaXiKbg,  which  means  Universal ; 
and,  accordingly,  it  has  ever  been  employed  by  those  writers, 
to  discriminate  the  great  body  of  Christians,  under  their  legiti- 
mate pastors,  and  subsisting  in  all  nations  and  all  ages,  from 
those  comparatively  small  bodies  of  Christians,  who,  in  certain 
places,  and  at  certain  times,  have  been  separated  from  it. 
*'  The  Catholic  Church,"  says  St.  Augustin,  "is  so  called,  be- 
cause it  is  spread  throughout  the  world. "J  "  If  your  church," 
adds  he,  addressing  certain  heretics,  "is  Catholic,  snow  me  that 

*  St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  speaking  of  the  Arians,  and  other  contemporary 
heretics  of  the  6th  century,  says:  "  Romanorum  nomine  vocitant  HOfiim 
re'igionis  homines."  Hist.  1.  xvii.  c.  25. 

t  On  tlie  New  Tes.'ament,  p.  378.        t  Epist.  170.  ad  S.  Scvei 


CATHOLICITY.  161 

it  spreads  its  branches  throughout  the  world  ;  for  such  is  the 
meaniag  of  the  word  Catholic."*  "  The  Catholic  or  universal 
doctrine,"  writes  St.  Vincent  of  Lerins,  "  is  that  which  remains 
the  same  throughout  all  ages,  and  will  continue  so  till  the  end 
of  the  world. — He  is  a  true  Catholic,  who  firmly  adheres  to  the 
faitli  which  he  knows  the  Catholic  Church  has  universally- 
taught  from  the  days  of  old. "f  It  follows,  from  these  and  other 
testimonies  of  the  fathers,  and  from  the  meaning  of  the  term 
Uself,  that  the  true  church  is  Catholic  or  universal  in  three  sev- 
eral respects,  as  to  persons,  as  to  places,  and  as  to  time,  [t 
consists  of  the  most  numerous  body  of  Christians  ;  it  is  more  or 
less  diffused  wherever  Christianity  prevails  ;  and  it  has  visibly 
existed  ever  since  the  time  of  the  apostles.  Hence,  dear  sir,  when 
you  hear  me  glorying  in  the  name  of  Catholic,  you  are  to  under- 
stand me  as  equivalently  proclaiming  : — T  am  not  a  Lutheran, 
Qor  a  Calvinist,  nor  a  Whitfieldite,  nor  a  Wesleyan ;  I  am  not 
of  the  Church  of  England,  nor  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  nor  of 
the  Consistory  of  Geneva :  1  can  tell  the  place  where,  and  the 
time  when,  each  of  these  sects  began ;  and  I  can  describe  the 
limits  within  which  they  are  respectively  confined  :  but  I  am  a 
naember  of  that  great  Catholic  Church,  which  was  planted  by 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  has  been  spread  throughout  the 
world,  and  which  still  constitutes  the  main  stock  of  Christianity  , 
that  to  which  all  the  fathers  of  antiquity  and  the  saints  of  all 
ages  have  belonged  on  earth,  and  still  belong  in  the  bright  re- 
gions above  ;  that  which  has  endured  and  overcome  the  persecu- 
tions and  heresies  of  eighteen  centuries  :  in  short,  that  against 
which  the  gates  of  hell  have  not  prevailed,  and  we  are  assured 
never  shall  prevail.  All  this  is  implied  by  my  title  of  Catholic. 
But  to  form  a  more  accurate  opinion  of  the  number  and  diffu- 
siveness of  Catholics,  compared  with  any  sect  of  Protestants,  it 
is  proper  to  take  a  slight  survey  of  their  state  in  the  four  quar- 
ters of  the  world.  In  Europe,  then,  notwithstanding  the  revo- 
lutionary persecutions  which  the  Catholic  religion  has  endured, 
and  is  enduring,  it  is  still  the  religion  of  the  several  states  of 
Italy,  of  most  of  the  Swiss  Cantons,  of  Piedmont,  of  France,  of 
Spain,  of  Portugal,  and  of  the  islands  in  the  Mediterranean,  of 
three  parts  in  four  of  the  Irish,  of  far  the  greater  part  of  the 
Netherlands,  Poland,  Bohemia,  Germany,  Hungary,  and  ihe 
neighboring  provinces ;  and  in  those  kingdoms  and  states  in 
which  it  is  not  the  established  religion,  its  followers  are  very 

»  Contra  Gaudent.  1.  iii.  c.  1. 

t  Commonit.  The  same  fath(;r  briefly^  and  accurately  defines  the  Catho. 
lie  doctrine  to  be,  that  which  has  been  b  jlieved  Semper  et  tibique  tt  ah  of» 
nibuB. 

14* 


162  LETTER    XXV. 

numerous,  as  in  Holl  md,  Russia,  Turkey,  the  Lutheran  and 

Calvinistic  states  of  Germany  and  England.  Even  in  Sweden 
and  Denmark  several  Catholic  congregations,  with  their  respec- 
tive pastors,  are  to  be  found. — The  whole  vast  continent  of 
South  America,  inhabited  by  many  millions  of  converted  In- 
dians, as  well  as  by  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  may  be  said  to 
be  Catholic  ;  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  empire  of  Mexico, 
and  the  surrounding  kingdoms  in  North  America,  including 
California,  Cuba,  Hispaniola,  &c.;  Canada  and  Louisiana  are 
chiefly  Catholic;  and  throughout  the  United  Provinces,  the 
Catholic  religion,  with  its  several  establishments,  is  completely 
protected,  and  unboundedly  propagated. — To  say  nothing  of  the 
islands  of  Africa,  inhabited  by  Catholics,  such  as  Malta,  Ma- 
deira, Cape  Verd,  the  Canaries,  the  Azores,  Mauritius,  Goree, 
&c.,  there  are  numerous  churches  of  Catholics,  established  and 
organized  under  their  pastors,  in  Egypt,  Ethiopia,  Algiers, 
Tunis,  and  the  other  Barbary  states  on  the  northern  coast ;  and 
thence,  in  all  the  Portuguese  settlements  along  the  western 
coast,  particularly  at  Angola  and  Congo.  Even  on  the  eastern 
coast,  especially  in  t'he  kingdom  of  Zanguebar  and  Monopotapa. 
are  numerous  Catholic  churches.  There  are  also  numerous 
Catholic  priests,  and  many  bishops,  with  numerous  flocks, 
throughout  the  greater  part  of  Asia.  All  the  Maronites  about  ■ 
Mount  Libanus,  with  their  bishops,  priests,  and  monks,  are 
Catholics  ;  so  are  many  of  the  ArmeniaLS,  Persians,  and  other 
Christians,  of  the  surrounding  kingdoms  and  provinces.*  In 
whatever  islands  or  states  the  Portuguese  or  Spanish  power 
does  prevail,  or  has  prevailed,  most  of  the  inhabitants,  and  in 
some,  all  of  them  have  been  converted  to  the  Catholic  faith. 
The  whole  population  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  consisting  of 
two  millions  of  souls,  is  all  Catholic.  The  diocese  of  Goa  con- 
tains 400,000  Catholics.  In  short,  the  number  of  Catholics  is 
so  great  throughout  all  the  peninsula  of  India  within  the  Gan- 
ges, notwithstanding  the  power  and  influence  of  Britain,  as  to 
excite  the  jealousy  and  complaints  of  the  celebrated  Protestant 
missionary,  Dr.  Bucnanan.f  In  a  late  parliamentary  record, 
it  is  stated,  that  in  Travancor  and  Cochin  is  a  Catholic  arch- 
bishopric and  two  bishoprics,  one  of  which  contains  35,000 
comnmnicants.X  There  are  numerous  Catholic  flocks,  with  their 
priesljj  and  even  bishops,  in  all  the  kingdoms  and  states  beyond 
the  Ganges,  particularly  in  Siam,  Cochin-China,  Tonquin,  and 

»  See  Sir  R.  Steele's  Account  of  the  Catholic  ReligioD  'J.roughout  the 
woild.  ^ 

t  See  Christian  Researches  in  Asia,  p.  131.     Mem.  Feci. 

t  Dr.  Kerr's  Letter,  quoted  in  the  laie  parliamentary  report  on  the  Catho 
(G  question,  p.  4S7. 


CATHOLICITY.  16S 

the  different  provinces  of  the  Chinese  empire.  I  must  udd,  on 
.his  subject,  that,  whereas  none  of  the  great  Protestant  sects 
was  ever  much  more  numerous  or  widely  spread  than  at  pre- 
sent, the  Catholic  Church,  heretofore,  prevailed  in  all  the  coun- 
tries v/hich  they  now  separately  inhabit.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  the  Greek  schismatics,  and  in  a  great  measure  of  the 
Ma'iomeians.  It  is  in  this  point  of  view  that  the  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  Marsh  ought  to  institute  his  comparison  between  the 
Church  of  England  and  the  Church  of  Rome  ;*  or  rather,  the 
Catholic  Church,  in  communion  with  the  See  of  Rome.  In  the 
mean  time,  we  are  assured  by  his  fellow-prelate,  the  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  that  "  The  articles  and  liturgy  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land do  not  correspond  with  the  sentiments  of  the  eminent  re- 
formers on  the  Continent,  or  with  the  creeds  of  any  Protestant 
churches  there  established, "f  And  with  respect  to  this  very 
church,  nothing  can  be  more  inconsistent,  than  to  ascribe  the 
greater  part  of  the  population  of  our  two  islands  to  it.  For  if 
the  Irish  Catholics,  the  Scotch  Presbyterians,  the  English 
Methodists  and  other  dissenters,  together  with  the  vast  popula- 
tion who  neither  are,  nor  profess  to  be,  of  any  religion  at  all, 
are  subtracted,  to  what  a  comparatively  small  number  will  the 
Church  of  England  be  reduced !  And,  how  utterly  absurd 
would  it  be  in  her  to  pretend  to  be  the  Catholic  Church  !  Nor 
are  these  the  only  subtractions  to  be  made  from  her  numbers, 
and  indeed  from  those  of  all  other  Christian  societies,  divided 
from  the  true  church  ;  since  there  being  but  &ne  baptism,  all  the 
young  children  who  have  been  baptized  in  them,  and  all  invin- 
cibly ignorant  Christians,  who  exteriorly  adhere  to  them,  really 
belong  to  the  Catholic  Church,  as  I  have  elsewhere  shown. 

In  finishing  this  subject,  I  shall  quote  a  passage  from  St.  Au- 
gustin,  which  is  as  applicable  to  the  sectaries  of  this  age  as  it 
was  to  those  of  the  age  in  which  he  wrote :  "  There  are  here- 
tics everywhere,  but  not  the  same  heretics  everywhere.  For 
there  is  one  sort  in  Africa,  another  sort  in  the  East,  a  third  sort 
:n  Egypt,  and  a  fourth  sort  in  Mesopotamia,  being  different  in 
different  countries,  though  all  produced  by  the  same  mother, 
namely,  pride.  Thus  also  the  faithful  are  all  born  of  one 
common  mother,  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and  though  they  are 
everywhere  dispersed,  they  are  everywhere  the  same. "J 

But  it  is  still  more  necessary  that  the  true  church  should  be 
CcUhohc  or  universal,  as  to  time,  than  as  to  numbers  or  to  place. 
(f  tnere  ever  was  a  period  since  h^r  foundation,  in  which  she 
las  failed,  by  teaching  or  promoting  error  or  vice,  then  the  pro- 

*  Sc<'  his  Comparative  View  of  the  Churches  of  England  and  Roii«. 
t  P     romiine's  Charge  in  1803.  X  Lit .  de  Pact  c.  8. 


164  LETTER    XXVI. 

mises  of  the  Almighty  in  favor  of  the  seed  of  David  and  le 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  in  the  Book  of  Psalms,*  and  in  kiose 
of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Daniel,  have  failed  ;f  then  the  more 
explicit  promises  of  Christ,  concerning  this  church  and  her  pas- 
te rs,  have  failed  ;  J  then  the  creed  itself,  which  is  the  subject 
of  our  present  discussion,  has  been  false. § — On  this  point 
learned  Protestants  have  been  wonderfully  embarrassed,  and 
have  involved  themselves  in  the  most  palpable  contradictions. 
A  great  proportion  of  them  have  maintained  that  the  church,  in 
past  ages,  totally  failed,  and  became  the  synagogue  of  Satan, 
and  that  its  head  pastor,  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  was  and  is  the 
man  of  sin,  the  identical  antichrist :  but  they  have  never  been 
able  to  settle  among  themselves,  when  this,  the  most  remarkable 
of  all  revolutions  which  have  happened  since  the  world  began, 
actually  took  place  ;  or  who  were  the  authors,  and  who  the 
opposers  of  it ;  or  by  what  strange  means  these  authors  pre- 
vailed on  so  many  millions  of  people  of  different  nations,  lan- 
guages, and  interests,  throughout  .Christendom,  to  give  up  the 
supposed  pure  religion,  which  they  had  learned  from  their  fa- 
thers, and  to  embrace  a  new  and  false  system,  which  its  adver- 
saries now  call  Poj)ery!  In  a  word,  there  is  no  way  of  account- 
ing  for  the  pretended  change  of  religion,  at  whatever  period 
this  may  be  fixed,  but  by  supposing,  as  I  have  said,  that  the 
whole  collection  of  Christians,  on  some  one  night  went  to  Led 
Protestants,  and  awoke  the  next  morning  papists. 

That  the  church  in  communion  with  the  See  of  Rome  is  tho 
originai,  as  well  as  the  most  numerous  church,  is  evident  ia 
several  points  of  view.  The  stone  cries  out  of  the  wall,  as  the 
prophet  expresses  it,||  in  testimony  of  this.  I  mean  that  our 
venerable  cathedrals  and  other  stone  churches,  built  by  Catho- 
lic hands  and  for  the  Catholic  worship,  so  as  to  resist,  in  some 
sort,  that  which  is  now  performed  in  them,  proclaim  that  ours 
is  tile  ancient  and  original  church.  This  is  still  more  clear 
from  the  ecclesiastical  historians  of  our  own  as  well  as  other 
nations  Venerable  Bede,  in  particular,  bears  witnessIT  that 
Lie  Roman  missionary,  St.  Augustin  of  Canterbury,  and  his 
companions,  converted  our  Saxon  ancestors,  at  the  end  of  the 
sixth  century  to  the  belief  of  the  pope's  supremacy,  transu-b- 
stantiation,  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  purgatory,  the  invocation 
of  saints,  and  the  other  Catholic  doctrines  and  practices ;  as 
learned  Protestants  in  general  agree.**     Now,  as  these  mission- 

*  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  alias  Ixxxix.  ^  c. 

t  Isaiah,  c.  liv.  lix.     Jerem.  xxxi.  31.     Dan.  ii.  44. 

;  Matt.  XV.  13. — xxviii.  19,  20.     §  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Ohurcii 

II  Habak.  ii.  11.  IT  Hist.  Eccles. 

•*  Bishop  Bale.     Dr.  Humphreys,  the  Centur.  of  Magdeb.  dtc. 


CATHOLICITY.  165 

aries  were  found  to  be  of  the  same  faith  and  religion,  not  mly 
with  the  Irish,  Picts,  and  Scots,  who  were  converted  almos.  two 
centuries  before  them,  but  also  with  the  Britons  or  Welsh,  wlio 
became  Christians  in  the  second  century,  so  as  only  to  differ 
from  them  about  the  time  of  keeping  Easter,  and  a  few  other  un- 
essential points,  this  circumstance  alone  proves  the  Catnolic  reli 
gion  to  have  been  that  of  the  church  at  that  early  age.  Still, 
the  most  demonstrative  proofs  of  the  antiquity  and  originality  of 
©ur  religion,  are  gathered  from  comparing  it  with  that  coritained 
in  the  works  of  the  ancient  fathers.  An  attempt  was  made, 
during  a  certain  period,  by  some  eminent  Protestants,  especially 
in  this  country,  to  press  the  fathers  into  their  service.  Among 
these.  Bishop  Jewel  of  Sarum  was  the  most  conspicuous.  He 
not  only  boasted  that  those  venerable  witnesses  of  the  primitive 
doctrine  were  generally  on  his  side,  but  also  published  the  fol- 
lowing  challenge  to  the  Catholics :  "  Let  them  show  me  one 
only  father,  one  doctor,  one  sentence,  two  lines,  and  the  field  is 
theirs."*  However,  this  his  vain  boasting,  or  rather  deliberate 
impugning  the  known  truth,  only  served  to  scandalize  sober 
and  learned  Protestants,  and  among  others  his  biographer.  Dr. 
Humphreys,  who  complains  that  he  thereby  "  gave  a  scope  to 
the  papists,  and  spoiled  himself  and  the  Protestant  Church. ^'f 
In  fact,  this  hypocrisy,  joined  with  his  shameful  falsifications  of 
the  fathers,  in  quoting  them,  occasioned  the  conversion  of  a  ben- 
eficed clergyman,  and  one  of  the  ablest  writers  of  his  age,  Dr. 
W.  Reynolds. "J  Most  Protestant  writers  of  later  times§  fol- 
low the  late  Dr.  Middleton,  and  Luther  himself;  in  giving  up 
the  ancient  fathers  to  the  Catholics  without  reserve,  and  thereby 
the  faith  of  the  Christian  church  during  the  six  first  centuries, 
of  which  faith  these  fathers  were  the  witnesses  and  teachers. 
Among  other  passages  to  this  purpose,  the  above-named  doctor 
writes  as  follows  :  "  Every  one  must  see  what  a  resemblance 
the  principles  and  practice  of  the  fourth  century  bear  to  the 
present  rites  of  the  Popish  church. "||  Thus,  by  the  confession  o 
her  most  learned  adversaries,  our  church  is  not  less  CATHO- 
LIC or  universal,  as  to  time,  than  she  is  with  respect  to  name^ 
hcahty,  and  numbers. 

I  am,  &c. 

John  Milner. 

*  See  Jewel's  Sennon  at  St  Paul's  Cross,  likewise  his  AnsM  ers  to  Pr. 
Cole. 

t  Lite  of  Jewel,  quoted  by  Walsingham,  in  his  invaluable  Search  into 
Matters  of  Religion,  p.  172.  t  Dodd's  Church  His-.,  vo    ii. 

§  See  the  acknowledgment  on  this  head  of  the  learned  Pro'estani*, 
Obretcht,  Doumoulin,  and  Casaubon. 

(I  Inquiry  into  Miracles^  Iiitrod.  p.  45. 


kM  LETTER    XXVII. 

LETTER  XXVII.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ,  Ac 

OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 
Dear  sir — 

I  HAVE  received  the  letter  written  by  your  visiter,  the  Rev. 
Joshua  Clark,  B.  D.,  at  the  request,  as  he  states,  of  certain 
members  of  your  society,  animadverting  on  my  last  to  you  ;  an 
unswer  to  which  letter  I  am  requested  to  address  to  you.  The 
reverend  gentleman's  arguments  are  by  no  means  consistent 
one  with  another  ;  for  like  other  determined  controvertists,  he 
attacks  his  adversary  with  every  kind  of  weapon  that  comes  to 
his  hand,  in  the  hope  per  fas  et  nefas  of  disabling  him.  He 
maintains,  in  the  first  place,  that  though  Protestantism  was  not 
visible  before  it  was  unveiled  by  Luther,  it  subsisted  in  the 
hearts  of  the  true  faithful,  ever  since  the  days  of  the  apostles, 
anJ  that  the  believers  in  it  constituted  the  real  primitive  Catho- 
lic Church. — To  this  groundless  assumption  i  answer,  that  an 
invisible  church  is  no  church  at  all ;  that  the  idea  of  such  a 
church  is  at  variance  with  the  predictions  of  the  prophets  re- 
specting Jesus  Christ's  future  church,  where  they  describe  it  as 
a  Mountain  on  the  top  of  mountains,  Is.  ii.  2,  Mich.  iv.  2,  and 
as  a  city,  whose  watchmen  shall  never  hold  their  peace,  Is.  Ixii. 
0,  and,  indeed,  with  the  injunction  of  our  Lord  himself  to  tell 
the  church,  Matt,  xviii.  17,  in  the  case  which  he  mentions.  It 
is  no  less  repugnant  to  the  declaration  of  Luther,  who  says  of 
himself,  "At  first  I  stood  alone  ;"*  and  to  that  of  Calvin,  who 
says,  "The  first  Protestants  were  obliged  to  break  off  from  the 
whole  world  ;"■(■  as  also  to  that  of  the  Church  of  England  in 
her  homilies,  where  she  says  :  "  Laity  and  clergy  ;  learned 
and  unlearned,  all  ages,  sects,  and  degrees  have  been  drowned 
in  abominable  idolatry,  most  detested  by  God  and  damnable  to 
man,  for  800  years  and  more.":]:  As  to  the  argument  in  favor 
of  an  invisible  church,  drawn  from  1  Kings,  xix.  18,  where 
the  Almighty  tells  Elijah,  "  I  have  left  me  7,000  in  Israel, 
whose  knees  have  not  been  bowed  to  Baal ;"  our  divine."?  fail 
not  to  observe,  that  however  invisible  the  church  of  the  old  law 
"Has  in  the  schismatical  kingdom  of  Israel,  at  the  time  here 
spoken  of,  it  was  most  conspicuous  and  flourishing  in  its  proper 
seat,  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  under  the  pious  King  Josaphat. 
Mr.  Clark's  second  argument  is  borrowed  from  Dr.  Porteus, 
and  consists  in  a  mere  quibble.  In  answer  to  the  question  : 
"  Where  was  the  Protestant  religion  before  Luther  ?"  this  pre- 
late  replies:  "It  was  just  where  it  is   now  :  only  that  then  it 

•  Opera.  Pref.  t  Epiet.  171.  t  Peri"  of  Tdcatiry,  j  iu 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  167 

was  corrupted  with  many  sinful  errors,  from  which  it  is  now 
reformed."*  But  this  is  to  fall  back  into  the  refuted  system  of 
an  invisible  church  and  to  contradict  the  homilies,  or  else  it  is 
to  confess  the  real  truth,  that  Protestancy  had  no  existence  be- 
fore the  sixteenth  century. 

The  reverend  gentleman  next  maintains,  on  quite  opposite 
grounds,  that  there  have  been  large  and  visible  socieiies  of  Pro^ 
tcstants,  as  he  calls  them,  who  have  stood  in  opposition  to  tlie 
Churcli  of  Rome,  in  all  past  ages. — True,  there  have  been  her- 
etics and  schi.smatics  of  one  kind  or  other  during  all  that  time, 
from  Simon  Magus  down  to  Martin  Luther ;  many  sects  of 
whom,  such  as  the  Arians,  the  Nestorians,  the  Eutychians,  the 
Monotholites,  the  Albigenses,  the  Wickliffites,  and  the  Hussites, 
have  been  exceedingly  numerous  and  powerful  in  their  turns, 
Though  most  of  them  have  now  dwindled  awp,y  to  nothing  :  but 
)bserve,  that  none  of  the  ancient  heretics  held  the  doctrines  of 
\ny  description  of  modern  Protestants,  and  all  of  them  main- 
lained  doctrines  and  practices  which  modern  Protestants  repro- 
bate, as  much  as  Catholics  do.  Thus  the  Albigenses  were  real 
Manicheans,  holding  two  first  principles  or  deities,  attributing 
the  Old  Testament,  the  propagation  of  the  human  species,  to 
Satan,  and  acting  up  to  these  diabolical  maxims. f  The  Wick- 
liffites and  Hussites,  were  the  levelling  and  sanguinary  Jacobins 
of  the  times  and  countries  in  which  they  lived  ;J  in  other  re- 
spects these  two  sects  were  Catholics,  professing  their  belief  in 
.he  seven  sacraments,  the  mass,  the  invocation  of  saints,  purga- 
tory, &;c.  If,  then,  your  reverend  visiter  is  disposed  to  admit 
such  company  into  his  religious  communion,  merely  because 
they  protested  against  the  supremacy  of  the  pope,  and  some 
other  Catholic  tenets,  he  must  equally  admit  Jews,  Mahome- 
tans, and  pagans  into  it,  and  acknowledge  them  to  be  equally 
Protestants  with  himself. 

Your  reverend  visiter  concludes  his  letter  with  a  long  disser- 
tation,  in  which  he  endeavors  to  show,  that  however  we  Catho- 
lics may  boast  of  the  antiquity  and  perpetuity  of  our  church  in 
past  times,  our  triumphs  must  soon  cease  by  the  extinction  of 
this  church,  in  consequence  of  the  persecution  now  carrying  on 
against  it  in  France,  and  other  parts  of  the  continent  ;§  and 
also  from  the  preponderance  of  the  Protestant  power  in  Europe, 
particularly  that  of  our  own  country,  which,  he  says,  is  nearly 
as  much  interested  in  the  extirpation  of  Popery  as  of  Jacobinism. 
My  answer  _::»  this :  I  see  and  bewail  the  anti-catholic  persecu- 
tion which  has  been,  and  is  carried  on  in  France  and  its  (^^ 

«  Confut.  p.  79. 

t  See  an  account  of  them,  and  the  authorities  on  which  this  resi,  in 
UUtr*  to  a  Prebendary,  Letter  IV.  X  Ibid.  (  Namely,  in  iH09 


168  LETTER  XXVII. 

pendent  states,  where  to  decatholicize  is  the  avowed  order  of  the 
day.  This  was  preceded  by  the  less  sanguinary,  though  equally 
anti-catholic  persecution  of  the  Emperor  Joseph  II.,  and  his 
relatives  in  Germany  and  Italy.  I  hear  the  exultations  and 
menaces  on  this  score  of  the  Wranghams,  De  Coetlogons,  1  ow- 
sons,  Bichenos,  Ketts,  Fabers,  Daubenys,  and  a  crowd  of  othei 
declamatory  preachers  and  writers,  some  of  whom  proclaim 
that  the  Romish  Babylon  is  on  the  point  of  falling,  and  others 
that  she  is  actually  fallen.  In  the  mean  time,  though  more 
living  branches  of  the  mystical  Vine  should  be  cut  off  by  the 
sword,  and  though  more  rotten  branches  should  fall  off,  from 
their  own  decay,*  I  am  not  at  all  fearful  for  the  life  of  the  Tree 
itself,  since  the  Divine  veracity  is  pledged  for  its  safety,  as  long 
as  the  sun  and  moon  shall  endure,  (Psalm  Ixxxix.,)  and  since  the 
experience  of  eighteen  centuries  has  confirmed  our  faith  in  these 
divine  promises.  During  this  long  interval,  kingdoms  and  em- 
pires have  risen  and  fallen,  the  inhabitants  of  every  country 
have  been  repeatedly  changed ;  in  short,  every  thing  has 
changed  except  the  doctrine  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  which  are  precisely  the  same  now  that  Christ  and  his 
apostles  left  them.  In  vain  did  pagan  Rome,  during  three  cen- 
turies, exert  its  force  to  drown  her  in  her  own  blood;  in  vain 
did  Arianism  and  the  other  contemporary  heresies  sap  her  foun- 
dations during  two  centuries  more ;  in  vain  did  hordes  of  bar- 
barians from  the  north,  and  of  Mahometans  from  the  south,  rush 
forward  to  overwhelm  her ;  in  vain  did  Luther  swear  that  he 

*  Since  the  present  letter  was  written,  many  circumstances  have  occurred 
to  show  the  mistaken  politics  of  our  rulers,  in  endeavoring  to  weaken  and 
supplant  the  religion  of  their  truly  loyal  and  conscientious  Catholic  subjects. 
Among  other  measures  for  this  purpose,  may  be  mentioned  the  late  instruc 
lions  sent  to  the  Governor  of  Canada,  which  Catholic  province  alone  re. 
mained  faithful  at  the  time  of  trial,  when  all  the  Protestant  provinces  abjured 
their  allegiance.  To  the  same  intent  may  be  cited  the  letter  of  Dr.  Kerr, 
Benior  chaplain  of  Fort  St  George,  quoted  in  the  late  parliamentary  report. 
By  this  it  appears  that  the  Catholics  in  that  province  generally  converted 
about  three  hundred  infidels  to  Christianity  every  year,  and  that  there  was  a 
prospect  of  their  converting  many  of  the  Hindoo  chiefs,  but  that  our  govern, 
ment  set  its  face  against  these  conversions.  Thus  is  the  obscene  and  bar- 
barous worship  of  Juggernaut  himself  preferred  to  the  religion  which  con- 
verted and  civilized  our  ancestors.  Juggernaut,  as  Dr.  Buchanan  informs  us, 
is  a  huge  idol,  carved  with  the  most  obscene  figures  round  it,  and  publicly 
worshipped  before  hundreds  of  tho'osands,  with  obscene  songs  and  unnatural 
rites,  too  gross  to  be  described.  It  is  placed  on  a  carriage,  under  the  wheels 
of  which  great  numbers  of  its  votaries  are  encouraged  to  throw  themselves, 
in  order  to  be  crushed  to  death  by  them.  Now  this  infernal  worship  is  not 
barely  permitted,  but  even  supported  by  our  government  in  India,  as  it  takes 
a  tribute  from  each  individual  who  is  present  at  it,  and  likewise  defrays  the 
txpense  of  it,  to  the  amount,  says  Dr.  Buchanan,  of  jB8,700  annually,  inclu. 
ding  the  keep  of  prostitutes,  Sec. 


APOSTOLICITY.  169 

Aimself  would  be  her  death  :*  she  has  survived  these,  and  mi- 
merous  other  enemies  equally  redoubtable ;  and  she  will  sur- 
vive even  the  fury  and  machinations  of  anti-christian  philosophy j 
though  directed  against  her  exclusively,  for  not  a  drop  of  Pro- 
testant blood  has  been  shed  in  this  impious  persecution.  Nor 
is  that  church  which,  in  a  single  kingdom,  the  very  head-quar- 
ters of  infidelity,  could  at  once  furnish  24,000  martyrs  and 
60.000  voluntary  exiles,  in  defence  of  her  faith,  so  likely  to  sink 
under  external  violence,  or  internal  weakness,  as  your  reve- 
rend visiter  supposes.  Alluding  to  the  then  recent  attempt  of 
the  Emperor  Julian  to  falsify  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  by  re- 
building the  Jewish  temple,  St.  John  Chrysostom  exclaimed : 
"  Behold  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  ;  God  has  destroyed  it :  have 
men  been  able  to  restore  it  ?  Behold  the  church  of  Christ ; 
God  has  built  it :  have  men  been  able  to  destroy  it  ?"  Shoul(! 
the  Almighty  permit  such  a  persecution  to  befall  any  of  the  Pro- 
testant communions,  as  we  have  beheld  raging  against  the  Cath- 
olic Church  on  the  continent,  does  your  visiter  really  believe 
that  its  clergy  and  other  members  will  exhibit  the  same  con- 
stancy in  suffering  for  their  respective  tenets,  that  our  clergy 
and  people  have  shown  in  defence  of  hers  ?  In  fact,  for  what 
tenets  should  the  former  suffer  exile  and  death,  since,  without 
persecution,  they  have  all,  in  a  manner,  abandoned  their  origi- 
nal  creeds,  from  the  uncertainty  of  their  rule  of  faith,  and  their 
own  natural  mutability  ?  Human  laws  and  premiums  may 
preserve  the  exterior  appearance,  or  mere  carcass  of  a  church, 
as  one  of  your  divines  expresses  it;  but  while  the  pastors  and 
doctors  of  it  demonstrate  by  their  publications,  that  they  no 
longer  maintain  her  fundamental  articles,  can  we  avoid  sub- 
scribing to  the  opinion  expressed  by  a  late  dignitary  of  it,  that 
"  the  Church  of  England,  properly  so  called,  is  not  in  exist- 
ence ?"f — I  am,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XXVIII.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  &c 

ON  THE  APSTOLICITY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCFI. 

Dkar  sir — 

The  last  of  the  four  marks  of  the  church,  mentioned  in  our 
common  cieed,  is  Apostolicity.  We  each  of  us  declare,  in 
our  solemn  worship :  /  believe  in  One,  Hdly,  Catholic,  and 
APOSTOLICAL    Church.     Christ's   last   commission  to  his 

*  Luther  ordered  this  epitaph  to  be  engraved  on  his  tomb  : — Pesi^fi  eram 
nten9t  morins  ero  mors  tua^  papa.  t  Cunfeesional,  p.  244. 

16 


170  LETTER  xxvm. 

apostles  was  this :  Go  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  nanm 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  and,  lo  !  I 
am  with  you  always,  even  unto  THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD, 
Matt,  xxviii.  20.  Now  the  event  has  proved,  as  I  have  already- 
observed,  that  the  apostles  themselves  were  only  to  live  the 
ordinary  term  of  man's  life  ;  therefore  the  commission  of  preach- 
ing and  ministering,  together  with  the  promise  of  the  Divine 
assistance,  regards  the  successors  of  the  apostles,  no  less  thaa 
the  apostles  themselves.  This  proves  that  there  must  hav© 
been  an  uninterrupted  series  of  such  successors  of  the  apostles 
in  every  age  since  their  time  ;  that  is  to  say,  successors  to  their 
doctrine,  to  their  jurisdiction,  to  their  orders,  and  to  their  mission. 
Hence  it  follows,  that  no  religious  society  whatever,  which 
cannot  trace  its  succession,  in  these  four  points,  up  to  the  apos- 
tles, has  any  claim  to  the  characteristical  title,  APOSTOLl 
CAL. 

Conformably  with  what  is  here  laid  down,  we  find  the  fathers 
and  ecclesiastical  doctors  of  every  age,  referring  to  this  mark 
of  apostolical  succession,  as  demonstrative  of  their  belonging  to 
the  true  church  of  Christ.  St.  Irenseus  of  Lyons,  the  disciple  of 
St.  Polycarp,  who  himself  appears  to  have  been  consecrated  by 
St.  John  the  Evangelist,  repeatedly  urges  this  argument  against 
his  contemporary  heretics.  "  We  can  count  up,"  he  says, 
"those  who  were  appointed  bishops  in  the  churches  by  the 
apostles  and  their  successors  down  to  us,  none  of  whom  taugh? 
this  doctrine.  But  as  it  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  the  sue 
cession  of  bishops  in  the  different  churches,  we  refer  you  to  tli^ 
tradition  of  that  greatest,  most  ancient,  and  universally  known 
church,  founded  at  Rome  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  which 
has  been  preserved  there,  through  the  succession  of  its  bishops, 
down  to  the  present  time."  He  then  recites  the  names  of  the 
several  popes  down  to  Eleutherius,  who  was  then  living.*  Ter- 
tullian,  who  also  flourished  in  the  same  century,  argues  in  the 
same  manner,  and  challenges  certain  heretics  in  these  terms : 
"  Let  them  produce  the  origin  of  their  church  ;  let  them  display 
the  succession  of  their  bishops,  so  that  the  first  of  them  may 
appear  to  have  been  ordained  by  an  apostolic  man,  who  perse- 
vered in  their  communion."  He  then  gives  a  list  of  the  pon- 
tiffs in  the  Roman  See,  and  concludes  as  follows :  "  Let  the 
lieretics  feign  any  thing  like  this."f  The  great  St.  Auguslin, 
who  wrote  in  the  fifth  century,  among  other  motives  of  credi- 
bility in  favor  of  the  Catholic  religior ,  mentions  the  one  in  ques 
tioD  :  "  I  am  kept  in  this  church,"  he  says,  "  by  the  succession 

*  Lib.  iii.  advers  User.  c.  3. 

t  "Fingan   tale  aliquid  haeretici."     PrsBScript. 


APOSTOLICITY.  171 

of  prelates  from  St.  Peter,  to  whom  tha  Lord  ccrrnitted  thi 
care  of  his  sheep,  -.lown  to  the  present  bishop."*  In  like  man- 
ner St.  Optatus,  writing  against  the  Donatists,  enumerates  a.\{ 
the  popes  from  St.  Peter  down  to  the  then  living  pope,  Siricius, 
"  with  whom,"  he  says,  "  we  and  all  the  world  are  united  in 
communion.  Do  you,  Donatists,  now  give  the  history  of  youi 
episcopal  ministry. "f  In  fact,  this  mode  of  proving  the  Catho- 
ic  Church  to  be  apostolical,  is  conformable  to  common  sens< 
ttud  constant  usage.  If  a  prince  is  desirous  of  showing  his  title 
to  a  throne,  or  a  nobleman  or  gentleman  his  claim  to  an  estate 
he  fails  not  to  exhibit  his  genealogical  table,  and  to  trace  his 
pedigree  up  to  some  personage  whose  right  to  it  was  unquestion- 
able. I  shall  adopt  the  same  precise  method  on  the  present 
occasion,  by  sending  your  society  a  slight  sketch  of  our  apos- 
tolical tree,  by  which  they  will  see,  at  a  glance,  an  abridgment 
of  the  succession  of  our  chief  bishops  in  the  Apostolical  See  of 
Rome,  from  St.  Peter  up  to  the  present  edifying  pontiff,  Pius 
VII.,  as  likewise  that  of  other  illustrious  doctors,  prelates,  and 
saints,  who  have  defended  the  apostolical  doctrine  by  their 
preaching  and  writings,  or  who  have  illustrated  it  by  their  lives. 
They  will  also  see  the  fulfilment  of  Christ's  injunction  to  the 
apostles  and  their  successors,  in  the  conversion  of  nations  and 
people  to  his  faith  and  church.  Lastly,  they  will  behold  the 
unhappy  series  of  heretics  and  schismatics,  who,  in  different  ages, 
have  fallen  off  from  the  doctrine  or  communion  of  the  Apostolio 
Church.  But  as  it  is  impossible,  in  so  narrow  a  compass  a3 
the  present  sheet,  to  give  the  names  of  all  the  popes,  or  to  ex- 
nibit  the  other  particulars  here  mentioned,  in  the  distinct  am 
detailed  manner  which  the  subject  seems  to  require,  I  will  tr^ 
to  supply  the  deficiency  by  the  subjoined  copious  note. J 

*  Contra  Epist.  Fundam.  t  Contra  Parmen.  lib.  ii. 

X  CENT.  I. 

Within  the  fiist  century  from  the  birth  of  Christ,  this  long  expected  Mes 
siah  founded  the  kingdom  of  his  holy  church  in  Judea,  and  chose  his  ap^tles 
to  propagate  it  throughout  the  earth,  over  whom  he  appointed  Simon,  as  the 
centre  of  union  and  head  yasior,  charging  him  to  feed  his  whole  flock,  sheep 
as  well  as  lambs,  giving  hi  ii  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  chang 
ing  his  name  into  that  of  PETER,  or  ROCK  ;  adding,  On  this  rock  I  wiU 
build  my  church.  Thus  dignified,  St.  Peter  first  established  his  see  at  Anti 
och,  the  head  city  of  Asia,  whence  he  sent  his  disciple,  St.  Mark,  to  estab 
lish  and  govern  the  See  of  Alexandria,  the  head  city  of  Africa.  He  after- 
wards removed  his  own  see  to  Rome,  the  capitol  of  Europe  and  the  world. 
Here  having,  widi  St.  Paul,  sealed  the  gospel  with  his  blood,  he  transmitted 
his  prerogative  to  St.  Linus,  from  whom  it  descended  in  succession  to  St 
Cletus  and  St.  Clement.  Among  the  othei  illustrious  doctors  of  this  age  are 
to  be  reckoned,  first,  the  other  apostles,  tl  en  SS.  Mark,  Luke,  Barnaby, 
Timothy,  Titus,  Hermas,  Ignatius,  Bishop  ot  Antioch,  and  Polycarp,  of 
Smyrna.    From  the  few  remaining  writings  ol  these  may  be  gathered  th« 


172  LETTER    XXVIII. 

I  do  not,  dear  sir,  pretend  to  exhibit  a  history  of  the  churcKj 
nor  even  a  regular  epitome  of  it,  in  the  present  not(3,  any  more 
than  in  the  apostolical  tree  ;  nevertheless,  either  of  these  will 
give  you  and  your  respectable  society,  a  sufficient  idea  of  the 

necessity  of  unity  and  submission  to  bishops,  tradition,  the  real  presence  the 
eacrifice  of  the  mass,  veneration  for  relics,  &cc.  In  this  age  churches  were 
foi  nded  in  the  above-mentioned  places,  as  also  in  Samaria,  throughout  Lesser 
Asia,  in  Armenia,  India,  Greece,  Egypt,  Ethiopia,  Italy,  Spain,  and  Gaul 
In  this  apostoUcal  age,  also,  and,  as  it  were,  under  the  eyes  of  the  apostles, 
different  proud  innovators  pretended  to  reform  the  doctrine  which  the  latter 
taught.  Among  these  were  Simon  the  magician,  Hymeneus  and  Phileius, 
the  incontinent  Nicolaites,  Cerinthus,  Ebion,  and  Menander. 

CENT.  II. 

The  succession  of  chief  pastors  in  the  chair  of  Peter  was  kept  up  through 
this  century  by  the  following  popes,  who  were  also,  for  the  most  part,  i.iar. 
tyrs  :  Anacletus,  Evaristus,  Alexander  I.,  Xystus  I.,  Telesphorus,  Hyginus^ 
Pius  I.,  Anicetus,  Soter,  Eleutherius,  who  sent  Fugatius  and  Damianus  to 
convert  the  Britons,  and  Victor  I.,  who  exerted  his  authority  against  ceram 
Asiatic  bishops,  the  Quarto-decimans,  so  called  from  their  keeping  Easter  at 
an  undue  time.  The  truth  of  Christianity  was  defended  in  this  age,  by  the 
apologists  Quadratus,  Aristides,  Melito,  and  .Tustin,  the  philosopher  and  mar- 
tyr ;  and  the  rising  heresies  of  Valentinian,  Marcian,  and  Carpocrates,  were 
confounded  by  the  bishops  Dionysius  of  Corinth,  and  Theophylusof  Antioch, 
in  the  East ;  and  by  St.  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian  in  the  West.  In  the  mean 
time  the  Catholic  Church  was  more  widely  spread,  through  Gaul,  Germany, 
Scythia,  Africa,  and  India,  besides  Britain. 

CENT.  III. 

The  popes  who  presided  over  the  church  in  the  third  age,  were  all  emi- 
nent for  their  sanctity,  and  almost  all  of  them  became  martyrs.  Their  names 
are  Zephyrinus,  Calixtus  I.,  Urban  I.,  Poniianus,  Antherus,  I'abian,  Corne- 
lius, Lucius,  Stephen  I.,  Xystus  II.,  Dionysius,  Felix  I.,  Euiychian,  Caius, 
and  Marcellinus.  The  most  celebrated  doctors  of  this  age  were  St.  Clement 
of  Alexandria,  Origen,  and  Minutius  Felix  ;  St.  Cyprian  and  St.  Hypolitus, 
both  martyrs  ;  and  St.  Gregory,  surnamed  for  his  miracles,  Thaumaturgus, 
Bishop  of  Neocesarea.  At  this  time,  Arabia,  the  Belgic  provii  ces,  and  many 
districts  of  Gaul  were  almost  wholly  converted  ;  whilst  Pau  of  Samosata, 
for  denying  the  divinity  of  Christ ;  Sabellius,  for  impugning  he  distinction 
of  persons  in  the  B.  Trinity  ;  and  Novatus,  for  denying  the  power  of  the 
Church  to  remit  sins  ;  with  Manes,  who  believed  in  two  D(  ties,  were  cut 
ofl  as  rotten  branches  from  the  apostolic  tree. 

CENT.  IV. 

8St.  Marcellus,  the  first  pop  •.  in  this  century,  died  through  the  hardships  of 
fcnprisonment  for  the  faith.  After  him  came  Eusebius,  Melchiades,  Silves- 
ter, under  whom  the  Councils  of  Aries,  against  the  Donatists,  and  of  Nice, 
against  the  Arians,  were  held  ;  Marcus,  Julius,  in  whose  time  the  right  of 
appeal  to  the  Roman  See  was  confirmed,  Liberius  and  Damasus.  The 
oliurch,  which  hitherto  had  been  generally  persecuted  by  the  Roman  ernpe. 
rors,  was  in  this  age,  alternately  protected  and  oppressed  by  them.  In  tho 
mean  time,  her  numbers  were  ^-odigiously  increased  by  conversions  through, 
»ut  tlie  Roman  empire,  and  also  in  Armenia,  Iberia,  and  Abyssinia  ;  and  hei 


APOSTOLICITT.  178 

tiniiiter.'uptel  succes^.on  of  supreme  pastors,  wnich  has  sub. 
sisted  in  ho  See  of  Rome  from  St.  Peter,  whom  Christ  made 
head  of  his  church,  up  to  the  present  pope,  Pius  VII.  And  this 
attribute  of  perpetual  succession,  you  are,  dear  sir,  tc  observe, 

faith  was  invincibly  maintained  by  St.  Athanasius,  St.  Hilary,  St  Gregory 
Nazianzen,  St.  Basil,  St.  Ambrose  of  Milan,  &c.,  against  the  Arians,  whc 
opposed  the  Divinity  of  Christ ;  the  Macedonians,  who  denied  that  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Arians,  who  impugned  episcopacy,  fasting,  and  prayers  foi 
the  dead,  and  other  new  heretics  and  schismatics. 

CENT.  V. 

During  this  age  the  perils  and  sufferings  of  the  church  were  great ;  but  s» 

also  were  the  resources  and  victories  by  which  her  divine  Founder  supported 
her.  On  one  hand,  the  Roman  empire,  that  fourth  great  dynasty,  compared 
by  Daniel  to  iron,  was  broken  to  pieces  by  numerous  hordes  of  Goths,  Van- 
dals- Huns,  Burgundians,  Franks,  and  Saxons,  who  came  pouring  in  upon 
the  civilized  world,  and  seemed  to  be  on  the  point  of  overwhelming  arts, 
sciences,  laws,  and  religion,  in  one  undistinguished  ruin.  On  the  other 
hand,  various  classes  of  powerful  and  subtle  heretics  strained  every  nerve  to 
corrupt  the  apostolic  doctrine,  and  to  interrupt  the  course  of  the  apostles'  sue 
cessors.  Among  these,  the  Nestorians  denied  the  union  of  Christ's  divine 
and  human  natures ;  the  Eutychians  confounded  them  together ;  the  Pela- 
gians contradicted  the  necessity  of  divine  grace,  and  the  followers  of  Vigilan- 
tius  scoffed  at  celibacy,  prayers  to  the  saints,  and  veneration  for  their  relics. 
Against  those  innovators,  a  train  of  illustrious  pontiffs  and  holy  fathers  op. 
posed  themselves,  with  invincible  fortitude  and  decided  success.  The  popes 
were  Innocent  I.,  Zosimus,  Boniface  I.,  Celestin  I.,  who  presided  by  his  le. 
gates  in  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  Xystus  III.,  Leo  the  Great,  who  presided  in 
.hat  of  Chalcedon,  Hilarius,  Simplicius,  Felix  III.,  Gelasius  I.,  Anastasiua 
II.,  and  Symmachus.  Their  zeal  was  well  seconded  by  some  of  the  bright- 
est ornaments  of  orthodoxy  and  litera'  ire  that  ever  illustrated  the  church 
St.  John  Chrysostom,  St.  Jerom,  St.  ^iugusiin,  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  Sec. 
By  their  means,  and  those  of  other  apostolic  Catholics,  not  only  were  the 
enemies  of  the  church  refuted,  but  also  her  bounds  greatly  enlarged  by  the 
conversion  of  the  Franks,  with  their  king,  Clovis,  and  of  the  Scotch  and  the 
Irish.  The  apostle  of  the  former  was  St.  Palladius,  and  of  the  latter  St.  Pa* 
rick,  both  commissioned  by  the  See  of  Rome. 

CENT.  VI. 

The  church  had  to  combat  with  infidels,  heretics,  and  worldly  politicians, 
in  this  as  in  other  ages  ;  but  failed  not  to  receive  the  accustomed  proofs  ot 
the  divine  protection,  amidst  her  dangers.  The  chief  bishops  succeeded 
each  other  in  the  following  order :  Hormisdas,  St.  John  I.,  who  died  a  pris. 
oner  for  the  faith,  Felix  IV.,  Boniface  II.,  John  II.,  Agapetus  I.,  St.  Silve. 
rius,  who  died  in  exile  for  the  unity  of  the  church,  Vigilius,  Pelagius  I.,  John 
III.,  Benedict  I.,  Pelagius  II.,  and  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  a  name  whiei 
ought  to  be  engraved  on  the  heart  of  every  Englishman  who  knows  how  to 
value  the  benefits  of  Christianity,  since  it  was  he  who  first  undertook  li 
preach  the  gospel  to  our  Saxon  ancestors,  and  when  he  was  prevented  by 
force  from  doing  this,  sent  his  deputies,  St.  Augustin  and  his  companions,  on 
this  apostolical  errand.  Other  shining  lights  of  this  age  were  St.  Fulgentius 
of  Ruspa,  Cesarius  of  Aries,  liupus,  Germanus,  Severus,  Gregory  of  Tours, 
our  venerable  Gildas,  and  tho  great  patriarch  4^  the  monks,  St.  Benedict 

15* 


n<k  LETTER    XXVIII. 

IS  peculiar  to  the  See  of  Rome:  for  in  all  the  other  vhurchei 
foimied  by  the  apostles,  as  those  of  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Alex- 
andria, Corinth,  Ephesus,  Smyrna,  &;c.,  owing  to  internal  dis- 
sensions and  external  violence,  the  succession  of  their  bishops 

The  chief  heretics  who  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  church  were  the  Asche. 
pali  and  the  Jocobites,  both  branches  of  Eutychianism  ;  the  Tritheists  the 
powerful  supporters  of  the  Three  Chapters,  Severus,  Eleurus,  Mongus,  An- 
thimus,  and  Acacius.  A  more  terrible  scourge  than  these,  or  than  any  other 
which  the  church  had  yet  felt,  God  permitted  in  this  age  to  fall  upon  her,  in 
the  rapid  progress  of  the  impostor  Mahomet.  What,  however,  she  lost  in 
some  quarters,  was  made  up  to  her  in  others,  by  the  suppression  of  Arianism 
among  the  Visigoths  of  Spain,  and  among  the  Ostrogoths  of  Italy,  and  by 
the  conversion  of  the  Lazes,  Axumites,  and  Southern  English. 

CENT.  VII. 

The  popes  in  this  century  are  most  of  them  honored  tor  their  sanctity 
namely,  Sabinianus,  Boniface  III.,  Boniface  IV.,  Deusdedit,  Boniface  V. 
Honorius  I.,  Severinus,  John  IV.,  Theodorus,  Martin  I.,  who  died  in  exile 
in  defence  of  the  faith,  Eugenius  I.,  Vitalianus,  Domnus  I.,  Agatho,  who  pre- 
sided by  his  legates  in  the  sixth  general  council,  held  against  the  Monotho- 
lites,  Leo  II.,  Benedict  II.,  John  V.  Conon,  and  Sergius  I.  Other  contem- 
porary doctors  and  saints  were  St.  Sophronius  and  St.  John  the  Almoner 
bishops ;  and  St.  Maximus,  martyr,  in  the  East.  SS.  Isidore,  Ildefonsus 
and  Eugenius,  in  Spain,  SS.  Amand,  Eligius,  Omer  and  Owen,  in  France, 
and  SS.  PauUnus,  Wilfrid,  Birinus,  Felix,  Chad,  Aidan,  and  Cuthbert,  in 
England.  The  East  at  this  time  was  distracted  by  the  Monotholite  heretics, 
and,  in  some  parts,  by  the  Paulicians,  who  revived  the  detestable  heresy  of 
the  Manicheans,  but  most  of  all  by  the  sanguinary  course  of  the  Mahomet- 
ans, who  overran  the  most  fertile  and  civilized  countries  of  Asia  and  Africa, 
and  put  a  stop  to  the  apostolical  succession  in  the  primitive  sees  of  the  East. 
To  compensate  for  these  losses,  tl  e  church  spread  her  roots  wide  in  the 
northern  regions.  The  whole  hept.  rchy  of  England  became  Christian,  and 
diffused  the  sweet  odor  of  Christ  throughout  the  West.  Hence  issued  St 
Willibrord  and  Swibert,  to  convert  Holland  and  Frizeland,  and  the  two  bro- 
thers of  the  name  of  Ewald,  who  confirmed  their  doctrine  with  their  blood. 
The  martyr  St.  Killian,  who  converted  Franconia,  was  an  Irishman  ;  but  all 
these  apostolic  men  received  their  commissions  from  the  chair  of  St.  Peter 

CENT.  VIII. 

The  apostolic  succession  in  the  See  of  Rome  was  kept  up  in  this  age  by 
John  VI.,  John  VII.,  Sisinnius,  Constantino,  Gregory  II.,  Gregory  III., 
Zacharias,  Stephen  II.,  Stephen  III.,  Paul  I.,  Adrian  I.,  who  presided  by 
his  legates  in  the  seventh  general  council  against  the  Iconoclasts,  and  Le( 
III.  The  Saracens  now  crossed  the  straits  of  Gibraltar  and  nearly  overrat 
Spain,  making  numerous  martyrs,  whilst  Felix  and  Elipand  broached  errors 
in  the  West,  nearly  resembling  those  of  Nesiorius.  The  most  signal  de 
fenders  of  the  orthodox  doctrine  were  St.  Germanus,  Patriarch,  St.  John 
Damascen,  Paul  the  Deacon,  Ven.  Bede,  St.  Aldhelm,  St.  Willibald,  Alcuin, 
St.  Boniface,  bishop  and  martyr,  and  St.  Lullus.  Most  of  these  were  Eng 
lishmen,  and  by  their  means,  Hessia,  Thuringia,  Saxony,  and  other  provinces 
were  added  to  the  Catholic  Church. 

CENT.  IX. 

The  apoBtoUc  tree,  in  thie  age,  was  agitated  by  storms  more  violent  than 


APOSTOLICITY.  175 

has,  ai  difTerent  times,  been  broken  and  confounded.  Hence 
the  See  of  Rome  is  emphatically  and  for  a  double  reason  called 
the  APOSTOLICAL  SEE ;  and  being  the  head  see  and  the 
centre  of  union  to  the  whole  Catholic  Church,  furnishes  the  first 

usual ;  but,  being  refreshed  with  the  dew  of  grace  from  above,  held  fast  by 
its  roots.  Claudius  of  Turin  united  in  one  system  the  heresies  of  Nestor'us, 
Vigilantius,  and  the  Iconoclasts,  while  Gotescale  labored  to  infect  the  church 
with  predestinarianism.  A  more  severe  blow  to  her,  however,  was  the  Greek 
schism,  occasioned  by  the  resentment  and  ambition  of  the  hypocrite  Photius. 
But  the  greatest  danger  of  all  arose  from  the  overbearing  power  of  the  anti- 
christian  Musselnans,  who  now  carried  their  arms  into  Sicily,  France,  and 
Italy,  and  became  masters,  for  a  time,  of  the  holy  see  itself.  The  succession 
of  its  bishops,  however,  continued  uninterrupted  in  the  following  order:  Ste- 
phen v..  Paschal  I.,  Eugenius  II.,  Valentine,  Gregory  IV.,  Sergius  II.,  Leo 
IV.,  Benedict  III.,  Nicholas  I.,  Adrian  II.,  who  presided  by  his  legates  in 
the  eighth  general  council,  John  VIIL,  Marinus,  Adrian  III.,  Stephen  VI., 
Formosas,  Stephen  VII.,  and  Romanus. — Other  props  of  the  church,  in  this 
age,  were  Theodore  the  Studite,  St.  Ignatius,  the  legitimate  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  Rabanus,  Hincmar,  and  Agobard,  French  bishops,  together 
with  our  countrymen,  St.  Swithin,  Neot,  Grimbald,  Alfred,  and  Edmund 
In  this  age  St.  Ansgarius  converted  the  people  of  Holstein,  and  SS.  Cyril 
and  Methodius  the  Sclavonians,  Moravians,  and  Bohemians,  by  virtue  of  a 
conimission  from  Pope  Adrian  II. 

CENT.  X. 

The  several  popes  during  this  century  were  Theodore  XL,  John  IX.,  Bene- 
dict IV.,  Leo  v.,  Christopher,  Sergius  III.,  Anastasius,  Lando,  John  X.,  Leo 
VL,  Stephen  VIIL,  John  XL,  Leo  VII.,  Stephen  IX.,  Martin  IL,  Agapetua 
II.,  John  XII.,  Benedict  V.,  John  XIIL,  Benedict  VI.,  Domnus  IL,  Bene- 
dict VII.,  John  XIV.,  John  XV.,  and  Gregory  V.  This  age  is  generally 
considered  as  the  least  enlightened  by  piety  and  literature  of  the  whole  num. 
her.  Its  greatest  disgrace,  however,  arose  from  the  misconduct  of  several 
of  the  above-mentioned  pontiffs,  owing* to  the  prevalence  of  civil  factions  at 
Rome,  which  obstructed  the  freedom  of  canonical  election  :  yet  in  this  list 
of  names  there  are  ten  or  twelve  which  do  honor  to  the  papal  calendar,  and 
even  those  who  disgraced  it  by  their  lives,  performed  their  pubUc  duty,  in 
preserving  the  faith  and  unity  of  the  church,  irreproachably.  In  the  mean 
time  a  crowd  of  holv  bishops  and  other  saints,  worthy  the  age  of  the  apostles, 
adorned  most  parts  of  the  church,  which  continued  to  be  augmented  by  nu- 
merous conversions.  In  Italy,  SS.  Peter,  Damian,  Romuald,  Nilus,  and 
Rathier,  Bishop  of  Verona,  adorned  the  church  with  their  sanctity  and  talents, 
as  did  the  holy  prelates,  Ulric,  Wolfgang,  and  Bruno,  in  Germany,  and  Odo, 
Dunstan,  Oswald,  and  Ethelwold,  in  England.  At  this  time,  St.  Adalbert, 
Bishop  of  Prague,  converted  the  Poles  by  his  preaching  and  his  blood  ;  the 
Danes  were  converted  by  St.  Poppo,  the  Swedes  by  St.  Sigifrid,  an  English. 
maH  the  people  of  Lesser  Russia  by  SS.  Bruno  and  Boniface,  and  the  Mus. 
covites  by  missionaries  sent  from  Greece,  but  at  a  time  when  that  corntry 
YdiS  in  communion  with  the  See  of  Rome. 

CENT.  XL 

During  this  age  the  vessel  of  Peter  was  steered  by  several  able  and  vir 
tuous  pontiffs.  Silvester  II.  was  esteemed  a  prodigy  of  learning  and  talents, 
A-fter  him  came  John  XVIII.,  John  XIX.,  Sergius  IV.,  Benedict  VIIL,  John 
XX.,  Benedict  IX.,  Gregory  VL,  Clement  IL,  Damasus  II.,  Leo  IX.,  who 


176  LETTER    XXVIIT. 

claim  to  its  title  of  THE  APOSTOLICAL  CHURCH.     Bin 

you  also  see,  in  the  sketch  of  this  mystical  tree,  an  uninterrupted 
series  of  other  bishops,  doctors,  pastors,  saints,  and  pious  per 
sonages,  of  different  times  and  countries,  through  these  eighteen 

has  deservedly  been  reckoned  among  the  saints,  Victor  II.,  Stephen  X, 
Nicholas  II.,  Alexander  II.,  Gregory  VII.,  who  is  also  canonized,  with  Vic. 
tor  III.,  and  Urban  II.  Other  defenders  of  virtue  and  religion,  in  this  age, 
were  St.  Elphegeand  Lanfranc,  Archbishops  of  Canterbury,  the  prelates  Bur- 
card  of  Worms,  Fulbert  and  Ivo  of  Chartres,  Odilo,  an  abbot,  Algar,  a  monk, 
Guitmund  and  Theophylactus.  The  crown,  also,  was  now  adorned  wiih 
saints,  equally  signal  for  their  virtue  and  orthodoxy.  In  England  shone  St. 
Edward  the  Confessor ;  in  Scotland,  St.  Margaret;  in  Germany,  St.  Henry, 
emperor ;  in  Hungary,  St.  Stephen.  The  cloister  was  also  now  enriched 
with  the  Cistercian  Order,  by  St.  Robert,  with  the  Carthusian  Order,  by  St. 
Bruno,  and  with  the  Order  of  Val-ombrosa,  by  St.  John  Gualbert.  While 
on  one  hand  a  great  branch  of  the  apostolic  tree  was  lopped  off',  by  the 
second  defection  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  some  rotten  boughs  were  cut  off" 
from  it  in  the  new  Manicheans,  who  had  found  their  way  from  Bulgaria  into 
France,  as  likewise  in  the  followers  of  the  innovator  Berengarius,  it  received 
fresh  strength  and  increase  from  the  conversion  of  the  Hungariaus,  and  ot 
the  Normans  and  Danes,  who  before  had  desolated  England,  France,  mu 
the  two  Sicilies. 

CENT.  XII. 

In  this  century  heresy  revived  with  fresh  vigor,  and  in  a  variety  of  forms 
though  chiefly  of  the  Manichean  family.  Mahometanism  also  again  threat 
ened  to  overwhelm  Christianity.  To  oppose  these,  the  Almighty  was  pleased 
to  raise  up  a  succession  of  as  able  and  virtuous  popes  as  ever  graced  the  tiara, 
with  a  proportionable  number  of  other  Catholic  champions  to  defend  ita 
cause.  These  were  Paschal  II.,  Gelasius  II.,  Calixtus  II.,  Honorius  II.,  In. 
nocent  II.,  who  held  (he  second  general  council  of  Lateran,  Celestin  II., 
Lucius  II.,  Eugenius  III.,  Anastasius  IV.,  Adrian  IV.,  an  Englishman,  Alex- 
ander  III.,  who  held  the  third  Lateran  council,  Lucius  III.,  Urban  III., 
Gregory  VIII.,  Clement  III.,  and  Celestine  III.  The  doctors  of  note  were, 
in  the  first  place,  the  mellifluous  Bernard,  a  saint,  however,  who  was  not 
more  powerful  in  word  than  in  work ;  likewise  the  Venerable  Peter,  Abbot 
of  Clugni,  St.  Anslem  and  St.  Thomas,  Archbishops  of  Canterbury,  Peter 
Lombard,  Master  of  the  Sentences,  St.  Otto,  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  St.  Nor. 
bert  of  Magdeburg,  St.  Henry  of  Upsal,  St.  Malachy  of  Armagh,  St.  Hugh 
of  Lincoln,  and  St.  William  of  York.  The  chief  heresies  alluded  to,  were 
those  propagated  by  Marsilius  of  Padua,  Arnold^  of  Brescia,  Henry  of  Thou, 
louse,  Tranchelm,  Peter  Bruise,  the  Waldenses,  or  disciples  of  Peter  Waldo^ 
and  the  Bogomilians,  Patarini,  Cathari,  Puritans,  and  Albigenscs,  all  the  lat, 
ter  being  different  sects  of  Manicheans.  To  make  up  for  the  loss  of  these, 
the  church  was  increased  by  the  conversion  of  the  Norwegians  and  Livoni 
ans,  chiefly  through  the  labors  of  the  above.named  Adrian  IV.,  then  an  apos* 
toHc  missionary,  called  Nicholas  Breakspear.  Courland  was  converted  by 
St.  Meinard,  and  even  Iceland  was  engrafted  in  the  apostolic  tree  by  th« 
labors  of  the  Catholic  missionaries. 

CENT.  xn. 

The  successors  of  St.  Peter  in  this  age  were  innocent  III.,  who  held  the 
fourth  Lateran  council,  at  which  412  bishops,  800  ubbots,  and  ambassadors 
%om  most  of  tie  Christian  sovereigns,  were  present,  for  tlie  extinction  of  the 


APOSTOLICITY.  177 

oenturies,  who  have,  in  their  several  stations,  kept  up  the  per- 
petual succession  :  those  of  one  century  having  been  the  ii^i- 
structors  of  those  who  succeeded  them  in  the  next :  all  of  them 
following  the  same  two-fold  rule  of  Scripture  and  tradition  ;  all 

impious  and  infamous  Albigensian  or  Manichean  heresy.  Honorious  III., 
Gregory  IX.,  Celestin  IV,,  Innocent  IV.,  who  held  the  first  general  council 
of  Lyons,  Alexander  IV.,  Urban  IV.,  Gregory  X.,  who  held  the  second  coun- 
cil of  Lyons,  in  which  the  Greeks  renounced  their  schism,  though  they  sooa 
fell  back  into  it,  Innocent  V.,  Adrian  V.,  John  XXL,  Nicholas  III.,  Martin 
IV.,  Honorius  IV.,  Nicholas  IV.,  Celestin  V.,  who  abdicated  the  pontificate, 
and  was  afterwards  canonized,  and  Boniface  VIII.  The  most  celebrated 
doctors  of  the  church  were  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin,  St.  Bonaventure,  St.  An- 
tony of  Padua,  and  St.  Raymund  of  Pennafort.  Other  illustrious  support 
ers  and  ornaments  of  the  church  were,  St.  Lewis,  King  of  France,  St.  Eliza 
beth.  Queen  of  Hungary,  St.  Hedwige  of  Poland,  St.  Francis  of  Assisiura, 
St.  Dominic,  St.  Edmund,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  St.  Thomas  of  Here. 
ford,  and  St.  Richard  of  Chichester.  The  chief  heretics  were  the  Beguardi 
and  Fratricelli,  whose  gross  immoralities  Mosheim  himself  confesses.  In  the 
mean  time  Spain  was,  in  a  great  measure,  recovered  to  the  Catholic  Church 
from  the  Mahometan  impiety  ;  Courland,  Gothland,  and  Estonia,  were  con 
verted  by  Baldwin,  a  zealous  missionary ;  the  Cumani,  near  the  mouths  of 
the  Danube,  were  received  into  the  church,  and  several  tribes  of  Tartars, 
with  one  of  their  emperors,  were  converted  by  the  Franciscan  missionaries, 
whom  the  pope  sent  among  them,  not,  however,  without  the  martyrdom  oi 
many  of  them. 

CENT.  XIV. 

Sdll  did  the  promise  of  Christ,  in  the  preservation  of  his  church,  contrary 
to  all  opposition,  and  beyond  the  term  of  all  human  institutions,  continue  to 
bo  verified.  The  following  were  the  head  pastors  who  successively  presided 
over  it :  Benedict  XL,  Clement  V.,  who  held  the  general  council  of  Vienna 
John  XXIL,  Clement  VI.,  Innocent  VI.,  Urban  V.,  Gregory  XL,  Urban  VL, 
and  Boniface  IX.  Among  the  chief  ornaments  of  the  church  in  this  age, 
may  be  reckoned  St.  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Portugal,  St.  Bridget  of  Sweden, 
Count  Elzear,  and  his  spouse  Deiphina,  St.  Nicholas  of  Tolentino,  St.  Cath. 
ariue  of  Sienna,  John  Rusbrock,  Peter,  Bishop  of  Autun,  &,c.  The  Mani- 
chean abominations  maintained  and  practised  by  the  Turlupins,  Dulcinians, 
and  other  sects,  continued  to  exercise  the  vigilance  and  zeal  of  the  Catholic 
pastors ;  and  the  Lollards  of  Germany,  together  with  the  Wickliffites  of 
England,  whose  errors  and  conduct  were  levelled  at  the  foundations  of  socie- 
ty, as  well  as  of  religion,  were  opposed  by  all  true  Catholics  in  their  re- 
spective stations.  The  chief  conquests  of  the  church  in  this  century,  were 
Lithuania,  the  prince  and  people  of  which  received  her  faith,  and  in  Great 
Tartary,  where  the  archbishopric  of  Cambalu  and  six  suflragan  bishoprics 
were  established  by  the  pope.  Odoric,  the  missionary,  who  furnished  tfc« 
Account  of  these  events,  is  known  himself  to  have  baptized  20,000  converta 

CENT.  XV. 

Tlie  succession  of  popes  continued  through  this  century,  though  among 
numerous  difficulties  and  dissensions,  in  the  following  order: — Innocent 
VII.,  Gregory  XII.,  Alexander  V.,  John  XXIIL,  Martin  V.,  Eugenius  IV . 
who  held  the  general  council  of  Florence,  and  received  the  Greeks  once 
more  into  the  Catholic  communion,  Nicholas  V.,  Calixtus  III.,  Pius  II., 
Paul  II.    Sixtiis  IV.,  Innocent  VIII.,  and  Alexander  VI.    In  this  age  fiuur 


178  LETTER    XXVIII. 

of  thi.-m  acknowledging  the  same  expositor  of  this  rule,  the 
Catholic;  Church ;  and  all  of  them  adhering  to  the  main  trunk 
or  centre  of  union,  the  apostolical  see.  Some  of  the  general 
councils  or  synods  likewise  appear,  in  which  the  bishops  from 

ished  St.  Vincent  Ferrer,  the  wonder-worker,  both  in  the  order  of  grace  anJ 
in  tliat  of  nature,  St.  Francis  of  Paula,  whose  miracles  were  not  less  nume- 
rous or  extraordinary,  St.  Laurence  Justinian,  Patriarch  of  Venice,  St.  An 
tonius.  Archbishop  of  Florence,  St.  Casimir,  Prince  of  Poland,  the  venora 
ble  Thomas  k  Kempis,  Dr.  John  Gerson,  Thomas  Waldensis,  the  learned 
English  Carmelite,  Alphonsus  Tostatus,  Cardinal  Ximenes,  &.c.  At  thb 
peiiod,  the  Canary  Islands  were  added  to  the  church,  as  were,  in  a  grea' 
measure,  the  kingdoms  of  Congou  and  Angola,  with  other  large  districts  ir. 
Africa  and  Asia,  wherever  the  Portuguese  established  themselves.  The 
Greek  schismatics  also,  as  I  have  said,  together  with  the  Armenians  and 
Monotholites  of  Egypt,  were,  for  a  time,  engrafted  on  the  apostolic  tree. 
These  conquests,  however,  were  damped  by  the  errors  and  violence  of  the 
various  sects  of  Hussites,  and  the  immoral  tenets  and  practices  of  the  Adam 
ftes  and  other  remnants  of  the  Albigenses. 

CENT.  XVI. 

This  century  was  distinguished  by  that  furious  storm  from  the  Norfli, 
which  stripped  the  apostolic  tree  of  so  many  leaves  and  branches  in  this 
quarter.  That  arrogant  monk,  Martin  Luther,  vowed  destruction  to  the  tree 
itself,  and  engaged  to  plant  one  of  those  separated  branches  instead  of  it , 
but  the  attempt  was  fruitless;  for  the  main  stock  was  sustained  by  the  arm 
of  Omnipotence,  and  the  dissevered  boughs  splitting  into  numberless  frag, 
ments,  withered  as  all  such  boughs  had  heretofore  done.  It  would  be  im. 
possible  to  number  up  all  these  discordant  sects  ;  the  chief  of  them  were, 
the  Lutherans,  the  Zuinglians,  the  Anabaptists,  the  Calvinists,  the  AngR- 
lans,  the  Puritans,  the  Family  of  Love,  and  the  Socinians.  In  the  mean 
time,  on  the  trunk  of  the  apostolic  tree  grew  the  following  pontiffs  : — Pius 
III.,  Julius  IL,  who  held  the  fifth  Lateran  council,  Leo  X.,  Adrian  VI., 
"Element  VIII.,  Paul  II.,  Julius  III.,  Marcellus  II.,  Paul  IV.,  Pius  IV.,  who 
concluded  the  council  of  Trent,  where  281  prelates  condemned  the  novelties 
)f  Luther,  Calvin,  &c.,  St.  Pius  V.,  Gregory  XIII.,  Sixtus  V.,  Urban  VII., 
•Gregory  XIV.,  Innocent  IX.,  and  Clement  VIII.  Other  supporters  of  il)« 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  against  the  attacks  made  upon  her,  were 
Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  Sir  Thomas  More,  Chancellor  of  England  ; 
Cuthbert  Maine,  and  some  hundreds  more  of  priests  and  religious,  who  were 
martyred  under  Henry  VIII.  and  Elizabeth  in  this  cause  ;  also  the  Cardinals 
Pole,  Hosius,  Cajetan,  and  Allen ;  with  the  writers  Eckius,  Cochleus,  Eras, 
mus.  Campion,  Parsons,  Stapleton,  &c.,  together  with  that  constellation  of 
great  samts  which  then  appeared,  SS.  Charles  Borromeo,  Cajetan,  Philip 
Neri,  Ignatiua,  F.  Xaverius,  F.  Borgia,  Teresa,  &c.  In  short,  the  dar.jagea 
sustained  from  the  northern  storm  were  amply  repaid  to  the  church,  by  in 
numerable  conversions  in  the  new  eastern  and  western  worlds.  It  is  com. 
puted  that  St.  Xaverius  alone  preached  the  faith  in  fifty-two  kingdoms  or 
independent  states,  and  baptized  a  million  of  converts  with  his  own  hand 
in  India  and  Japan.  St.  Lewis  Bertrand,  Martin  of  Valentia,  and  Bartholo- 
mew Las  Casas,  ^^■ith  their  fellow-missionaries,  converted  most  of  the  Mexi- 
cans,  and  great  progress  was  made  in  the  conversion  of  the  BraziHans, 
though  not  without  the  blood  of  many  martyred  preachers  in  these  and  the 
other  Catholic  misiiions,     David,  Emperor  of  Abj'ssinia,  with  many  of  hi» 


APOSTOLICITY.  '  179 

d: Cerent  parts  of  tho  church  assembled  from  time  to  time,  under 
the  authority  of  the  pope,  to  define  its  doctrine  and  regulate  ita 
discipline.  The  size  of  the  sheet  was  insufficient  to  exhibit  all 
the  various  councils.     Again,  you  behold  in  this  tree,  the  coa. 

family  and  other  subjects,  was  now  reclair?:ed  to  the  church,  and  Pulika, 
Patriarch  of  the  Nestorians  in  Assyria,  came  to  Rome,  in  order  to  join  tho 
numerous  churches  under  him  to  tiie  centre  of  unity  and  truth. 

CENT.  XVII. 

The  sects  of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  were,  at  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  in  their  full  vigor ;  and  though  they  differed  in  most  other  respects, 
jret  tl'.5y  combined  their  forces,  under  the  general  name  of  Protestants,  to 
overthrow  Christ's  everlasting  church.  These  attempts,  however,  like  the 
waves  of  the  troubled  ocean,  were  dashed  to  pieces  against  the  rock  on 
which  he  had  built  it.  On  the  contrary,  they  weakened  themselves  by  civil 
wars  and  fresh  divisions.  The  Lutherans  split  into  Diaphorists  and  Abia. 
phorists,  the  Calvinists  into  Gomarists  and  Arminians,  and  the  Anglicans 
into  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  Independents,  and  Quakers.  A  vaia 
effort  was  now  set  on  foot,  through  Cyril  Lucaris,  to  gain  over  the  Greek 
churches  to  Calvinism,  which  ended  in  demonstrating  their  inviolable  attach- 
ment to  all  the  controverted  doctrines  of  Catholicity.  Another  more  fatal 
attempt,  was  made  to  infect  several  members  of  the  church  itself  with  the 
distinguishing  error  of  Calvinism,  under  the  name  of  Jansenism.  But  the 
successors  of  St.  Peter  continued,  through  the  whole  of  this  century,  equally 
to  make  head  against  Protestant  innovations,  Jansenistical  rigor,  and  casuisti- 
cal laxity.  Their  names,  in  order,  were  these  :  Leo  XI.,  Paul  V.,  Gregory 
XV.,  Urban  VIII. ,  Innocent  X  ,  Alexander  VII.,  Clement  IX.,  Clement  X., 
Innocent  XL,  Alexander  VIII.,  and  Innocent  XII.  Their  orthodoxy  was 
powerfully  supported  by  the  Cardinals  Bellarmin,  Baronius,  and  Perron, 
with  the  Bishops  Huetius,  Bossuet,  Fenelon,  Richard  Smith,  and  the  divines 
Petavius,  Tillemont,  Pagi,  Thomassin,  Kellison,  Cressy,  &c.  Nor  were  the 
canonized  saints  of  this  age  fewer  in  number  or  less  illustrious  than  those  of 
the  former,  namely,  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  St.  Frances  Chantal,  St.  Camilluf, 
St.  Fidelis,  martyr,  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  &c.  Finally,  the  church  continued 
to  be  crowned  with  fresh  converts,  in  Peru,  Chili,  Terra  Firma,  Canada, 
Louisiana,  Mingrelia,  Tartary,  India,  and  many  islands  both  of  Africa  and 
Asia.  She  had  also  the  consolation  of  receiving  into  her  communion  the 
several  patriarchs  of  Damascus,  Aleppo,  and  Alexandria,  and  also  the  Nes- 
torian  Archbishops  of  Chaldaea,  and  Meliapore,  with  their  respective  clergy. 

CENT.  XVIIL 

Al  length  we  have  mounted  up  the  apostolic  tree  to  our  own  age.  In  jt, 
boresy  having  sunk  for  the  most  part  into  Socinian  indifference,  and  Jansen. 
ifiii  into  philosophic  infidelity  ;  this  last  waged  as  cruel  a  war  against  tho 
Catholic  Church,  (and,  O  glorious  mark  of  truth  !  against  her  alone,)  as  De- 
eiuB  and  Dioclesian  did  heretofore ;  but  this  has  only  proved  her  internal 
•trength  of  constitution,  and  the  protection  of  the  God  of  heaven.  The 
pontiffs  who  stood  the  storms  of  this  century,  were  Clement  XL,  Inno- 
cent XIIL,  Benedict  XIIL,  Clement  XII.,  Benedict  XIV.,  Clement  XIIL, 
Clement  XIV.,  Pius  VL,  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
Pius  VII.  has  done.  Among  other  modern  supporters  and  omamenta 
of  the  ^hureh.  may  be  mentioned  the  Clardinals  Thomasi  and  Quirini, 
the  Bishops  Languet^  La  Motte,  Beaumont,  Chailoner,  Hornyhold,  Walmes 


180  LETTER    XXVIII. 

tinuation  of  the  apostolical  work,  the  conversion  of  nations  ; 
which,  as  it  was  committed  by  Christ  to  the  Catholic  Church,  so 
it  has  never  been  blessed  by  him  with  success  in  any  hands  but 
in  hers.  This  exclusive  miracle,  in  the  order  of  grace,  like 
those  in  the  order  of  nature,  which  I  treated  of  in  a  former  let- 
ter, is  itself  a  divine  attestation  in  her  behalf.  Speaking  of 
the  conversion  of  nations,  I  must  not  fail,  dear  yir,  to  remind 
your  society,  that  this  our  country  has  twice  been  reclaimed 
from  paganism,  and  each  time  by  the  apostolic  labor  of  mis- 
sionaries, sent  hither  by  the  See  of  Rome.  The  first  conver- 
sion took  place  in  the  second  century,  when  Pope  Eleutherius 
sent  Fugatius  and  Duvianus  for  this  purpose  to  the  ancient 
Britons,  or  Welsh,  under  their  king  or  governor,  Lucius :  as 
Bede  and  other  historians  relate.  The  second  conversion  was 
that  of  our  immediate  ancestors,  the  English  Saxons  and  Angles, 
by  St.  Augustin  and  his  companions,  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, who  were  sent  from  Rome,  on  this  apostolical  errand,  by 
Pope  Gregory  the  Great.  Lastly,  you  see  in  the  present 
sketch,  a  series  of  unhappy  children  of  the  church,  who,  instead 
of  hearing  her  doctrines,  as  it  was  their  duty  to  do,  have  pre- 
tended to  reform  them  ;  and  thus  losing  the  vital  influx  of  theii 
parent  stock,  have  withered  and  fallen  off  from  it  as  dead 
branches. 

I  am,  &c. 

John  Milner. 

ley.  Hay  and  Moylan.  Among  the  writers  are  Calmet,  Miiratori,  Ber, 
gier,  Feller,  Gother,  Manning,  Hawarden,  and  Alban  Butler ;  and  among 
the  personages  distinguished  by  their  piety,  the  Good  Dauphin,  his  sis- 
ter Louisa,  the  CarmeUte  nun,  his  heroical  daughter  Elizabeth,  his  other 
daughter  Clotilde,  whose  beatification  is  now  in  progress,  as  are  those  of 
Bishop  Lignori,  and  Paul  of  the  Cross,  founder  of  the  Passionists  ;  as  also 
FF.  Surenne,  Nolhac,  and  L'Enfant,  with  their  fellow-martyrs,  and  the  Ven- 
erable Labre,  &c.  Nor  has  the  apostolical  work  of  converting  infidels  been 
neglected  by  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  midst  of  such  persecutions.  In  the 
early  part  of  this  century,  numberless  souls  were  gained  by  Catholic  preacher* 
in  the  kingdoms  of  Madura,  Cochin-China,  Tonquin,  and  in  the  empire  of 
China,  including  the  peninsula  of  Corea.  At  the  same  time  numerous  sav. 
ages  were  civilized  and  baptized  among  the  Hurons,  Miamis,  Illinois,  and 
other  tribes  of  North  America.  But  the  most  glorious  conquest,  because  <he 
moat  difficult  and  most  complete,  was  that  gained  by  the  Jesuits  in  the  inte, 
rior  of  South  America  over  the  wild  savages  of  Paraguay,  Uraguay,  and 
Parona,  together  with  the  wild  Canisians,  Moxos,  and  Chiquites,  who,  after 
shedding  the  blood  of  some  hundreds  ui  their  first  preachers  at  length  opened 
their  hearts  to  the  mild  and  sweet  truths  of  the  gospel,  ar.J  bei  ftme  modeji 
•f  piety  and  morahty,  nor  less  so  of  industry,  civil  ojder,  and  polity. 


APOSTOLICITY,  181 


1£TTER  XXIX.— 10  JAMES  BROWN   ES»l. 

ON  THE  APOSTOLICITY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC 
MINISTRY. 
Pear  sir — 

In  viewing  the  apostolical  tree,  you  are  to  consider  it  as  repre- 
senting an  uninterrupted  succession  of  pontiffs  and  prelates, 
who  derive,  not  barely  their  doctrine,  but  also,  and  in  a  special 
manner,  their  ministry,  namely  their  holy  orders,  and  the  ri^hi 
or  jurisdiction  to  exercise  those  orders,  in  a  right  line  from  tha 
apostles  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  fact,  the  Catholic  Church,  in  all 
past  ages,  has  not  been  more  jealous  of  the  sacred  deposit  of 
orthodox  doctrine,  than  of  the  equally  sacred  deposits  of  legiti- 
mate ordination,  by  bishops  who  themselves  had  been  riginly 
ordained  and  consecrated,  and  of  valid  jurisdiction  or  divine 
mission,  by  which  she  authorizes  her  ministers  to  exercise  th«iir 
respective  functions  in  such  and  such  places,  with  respect  to 
such  and  such  persons,  and  under  such  and  such  conditions,  as 
she,  by  the  depositaries  of  this  jurisdiction,  is  pleased  to  ordain. 
Thus,  my  dear  sir,  every  Catholic  pastor  is  authorized  and  en- 
abled to  address  his  flock  as  follows : — The  word  of  God  which 
I  announce  to  you,  and  the  holy  sacraments  which  I  dispense  to 
you,  I  am  QUALIFIED  to  announce  and  dispense  hj  such  a 
Catholic  bishop  who  was  consecrated  by  such  another  Catholic 
bishop,  and  so  on,  in  a  series  which  reaches  to  the  apostles  them- 
stflves  :  and  I  am  AUTHORIZED  to  preach  and  minister  to  you 
by  such  a  prelate,  loho  received  authority  for  ths  purpose,  from  the 
successor  of  St.  Peter  in  the  apostolic  See  of  Rome.  Heretofore, 
during  a  considerable  time,  the  learned  and  conscientious  di- 
vines of  the  Church  of  England  held  the  same  principles,  on 
both  these  points,  that  Catholics  have  ever  held,  and  were  no 
(ess  firm  in  maintaining  the  divine  right  of  episcopacy  and  'le 
ministry  than  we  are.  This  appears  from  the  works  of  one 
who  was,  perhaps,  the  most  profound  and  accurate  amongst  them, 
ihe  celebrated  Hooker.  He  proves,  at  great  length,  that  the  ec- 
clesiastical ministry  is  a  divine  function,  instituted  by  God,  and 
deriving  its  authority  from  God,  "  in  a  very  different  manner 
from  that  of  princes  and  magistrates :"  that  it  is  "  a  wretched 
blindness  not  to  admire  so  great  a  power  as  that  which  tho 
clergy  are  endowed  with,  or  to  suppose  that  any  but  God  can 
bestow  it;"  that  "it  consists  in  a  power  over  the  mystical  body 
of  Christ,  by  the  remission  of  sins,  and  over  his  natural  body  in 
the  sacrament,  which  antiquity  doth  call  the  making  of  Chri^t't 
hcdy."*     He  distinguishes  between  the  power  of  orders  p.nd  the 

•  Ecclcsiast.  Politic.  B.  v.  Art.  77. 
16 


IM  LETTER   XXIX. 

authorit}  of  7nissiin  or  jurisdiction,  on  both  which  points  he  ia 
supported  by  the  canons  and  laws  of  the  Establishment.  Not 
to  speak  of  prior  laws,  the  act  of  uniformity*  provides  that  no 
minister  shall  hold  any  living,  or  officiate  in  any  church,  who 
has  not  received  episcopal  ordination.  It  also  requires  that  he 
shall  be  a  >proved  and  licensed  for  his  particular  place  andywnc- 
tion.  This  is  also  clear  from  the  form  of  induction  of  a  clerk 
into  any  cure.f  In  virtue  of  this  system,  when  episcopacy  was 
re-established  in  Scotland,  in  the  year  1662,  four  Presbyterian 
ministers,  having  been  appointed  by  the  king  to  that  office,  the 
English  bishops  refused  to  consecrate  them,  unless  they  con- 
sented to  be  previously  ordained  deacons  and  priests  ;  thus  re- 
nouncing their  former  ministerial  character,  and  acknowledging 
that  they  had  hitherto  been  mere  laymen. if  In  like  manner,  on 
the  accession  of  King  William,  who  was  a  Dutch  Calvinist,  to 
the  throne,  when  a  commission  often  bishops  and  twenty  divines 
was  appointed  to  modify  t^e  articles  and  liturgy  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  coalition  with  the 
dissenters,  it  appeared  that  the  most  lax  among  them,  such  as 
Tillotson  and  Burnet,  together  with  Chief  Baron  Hales,  and 
other  lay  lords,  required  that  the  dissenting  ministers  should,  at 
least,  be  conditionally  ordained,^  as  being,  thus  far,  mere  lay- 
men.  In  a  word,  it  is  well  known  to  be  the  practice  of  the 
Established  Church,  at  the  present  day,  to  ordain  all  dissenting 
Protestant  ministers  of  every  description,  who  go  over  to  her ; 
whereas,  she  never  attempts  to  re-ordain  an  apostate  Catholic 
priest  who  offi^rs  himself  to  her  service,  but  is  satisfied  with  his 
taking  the  oaths  prescribed  by  law.||  This  doctrine  of  the 
Establishment,  evidently  unchurches  (as  Dr.  Heylin  expresses 
it)  all  other  Protestant  communions,  as  it  is  an  established  prin- 

♦  Stat.  13  and  14  Car.  II.,  c.  4. 

t  "  Curam  et  regimen  animarum  parochianorum  tibi  committimus." 

X  Collier's  Eccl.  Hist.  Vol.  ii.  p.  887.  It  appears  from  the  same  history 
that  four  other  Scotch  ministers,  who  had  formerly  permitted  themselves  to 
be  consecrated  bishops,  were,  on  that  account,  excommunicated  and  de. 
graded  by  the  kirk.     Records,  N.  cxiii. 

§  Lif3  of  Tillotson,  by  D.  Birch,  pp.  42,  176. 

II  Notwithstanding  these  proofs  of  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Estab- 
lished  Church,  a  great  proportion  of  her  modern  divines  consent,  at  the  pres. 
ent  day,  to  sacrifice  all  her  pretensions  to  divine  authority  and  uninterrupted 
Buccession.  It  has  been  shown  in  The  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  that  in  ihe 
(principles  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Balguy,  a  priest  or  bishop  can  as  well  be 
made  by  the  town-crier,  if  commissioned  by  the  civil  power,  as  by  the  me- 
tropolitan. To  this  system,  Dr.  Sturges,  Dr.  Hey,  Dr.  Paley,  Dr.  Tomline, 
and  a  crowd  of  other  learned  theologians  subscribe  their  names.  Even  the 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  maintaining  episcopacy  to  be  an  apostolical  institution, 
denies  it  to  be  binding  on  Christians  to  adopt  it ;  which,  in  fact,  is  to  reduce 
It  to  a  mere  oivil  and  optional  practice.    Elem.  Vol.  ii.  Art.  23. 


ATOSTO  LICIT  Y.  188 

ciple,  that,  no  ministry  no  church  ;*  and  with  equal  evidence,  it 
unchristians  them  also  ;  since  this  church  unanimous!)  resolved, 
in  1575,  that  baptism  cannot  be  performed  by  any  person  but  a 
lawful  minister. f 

But  dismissing  these  uncertain  and  wavering  opinions,  we 
know  what  little  account  all  other  Protestants,  except  thoso  of 
England,  have  made  of  apostolical  succession  and  Episcopal 
ordination.  Luther's  principles  on  these  points  are  clear  from 
his  famous  hull  against  the  FALSELY  CALLED  order  of 
bishops,"^  where  he  says  :  "  Give  ear  now,  you  bishops,  or  ra- 
ther you  visors  of  the  devil :  Dr.  Luther  will  read  you  a  bull 
and  a  reform,  which  will  not  sound  sweet  in  your  ears."  Dr. 
Luther's  bull^and  reform  is  this  :  "  Whoever  spend  their  labor, 
persons,  and  fortunes,  to  lay  waste  your  episcopacies,  and  to 
extinguish  the  government  of  bishops — they  are  the  beloved  of 
God,  true  Christians,  and  opposers  of  the  devil's  ordinances. 
On  the  other  hand,  whoever  support  the  government  of  bishops, 
and  willingly  obey  them — they  are  the  devil's  ministers,"  &;c. 
True  it  is,  that  afterwards,  namely,  in  1542,  this  arch-reformer, 
to  gratify  his  chief  patron,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  took  upon 
himself  to  consecrate  his  bottle-companion,  Amsdorf,  Bishop  of 
Naumburgh  :§  but  then  it  is  notorious  from  the  whole  of  his 
conduct,  that  Luther  set  himself  above  all  law,  and  derided  all 
consistency  and  decency.  Nea.rly  the  same  may  be  said  of  an- 
other later  reformer,  John  Wesley,  who,  professing  himself  to 
be  a  preshyter  of  the  Church  /  "^n^land,  pretended  to  ordain 
Messrs.  Whatcoat,  Vesey,  &c.  priests,  and  to  consecrate  Dr. 
Coke,  a  bishop  !\\  With  equal  inconsistency  the  elders  of  Hern- 
huth,  in  Moravia,  profess  to  consecrate  bishops  for  England  and 
other  kingdoms.  On  the  other  hand,  how  averse  the  Calvinists 
and  other  dissenters  are,  to  the  very  name,  as  well  as  the  office 
of  bishops,  all  modern  histories,  especially  those  of  England 
and  Scotland,  demonstrate.  But,  in  short,  by  whatever  name, 
whether  of  bishops,  priests,  deacons,  or  pastors,  these  ministers 
respectively  call  themselves,  it  is  undeniable,  that  they  are  all 
telf -appointed,  or,  at  most,  they  derive  their  claim  from  other 
men,  who  themselves  were  self-appointed,  fifteen,  sixteen,  or 
seventeen  hundred  years  subsequent  to  the  time  of  the  apostles. 

The  chief  question  which  remains  to  be  discussed,  concerni 

*  "  Ubi  nullus  est  sacerdos  nulla  est  ecclesia."  St.  Jerom,  &c. 

T  Elem.  of  Theol.  Vol.  ii.  p.  471. 

X  Adversus  falso  Normin.  Tom.  ii.  Jen.  A.  D.  1525. 

§  Sleidan,  Comment.  L.  14. 

II  Dr.  Whitehead's  Life  of  Charles  and  John  Wesley.  It  appears  that 
Charles  was  horribly  scandalized  at  this  step  of  his  brother  John,  aixl  that  a 
lasting  schism  among  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  was  the  consequence  of  it 


84  LETTER    XXIT. 

the  ministry  of  ihe  CJhurch  of  England  ;  namely,  whether  the 
first  Protestant  bishops  appointed  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  when  the 
Catholic  bishops  were  turned  out  of  their  sees,  did  or  did  not  re- 
ceive valid  consecration  from  some  other  bishop,  who  himself 
was  validly  consecrated  ?  The  discussion  of  this  question  has 
filled  many  volumes,  the  result  of  which  is,  that  the  orders  are, 
to  say  the  least,  exceedingly  doubtful.  For,  first,  it  is  ceilain 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  fathers  of  this  church  was  very  loose, 
as  to  the  necessity  of  consecration  and  ordination.  Its  chief 
founder,  Cranmer,  solemnly  subscribed  his  name  to  the  position, 
that  princes  and  governors,  no  less  than  bishops,  can  make 
priests,  and  that  no  consecration  is  appointed  by  Scripture  tc 
make  a  bishop  or  priest.*  In  like  manner,  Barlow,  on  the  \a 
lidity  of  whose  consecration  that  of  Matthew  Parker  and  of  a"l 
succeeding  Anglican  bishops  chiefly  rests,  preached  openly  that 
the  king's  appointment,  without  any  orders  or  ordination  what- 
soever, suffices  to  make  a  bishop. f  This  doctrine  seems  to 
have  been  broached  by  him,  to  meet  the  objection  that  he  him- 
self had  never  been  consecrated  :  in  fact,  the  record  of  such  a 
transaction  has  been  hunted  for  in  vain,  during  these  200  years. 
Secondly,  it  is  evident  from  the  books  of  controversy  still  ex- 
tant, that  the  Catholic  doctors,  Harding,  Bristow,  Stapleton,  and 
Cardinal  Allen,  who  had  been  fellow-students,  and  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  first  Protestant  bishops,  under  Elizabeth, 
and  particularly  with  Jewel,  Bishop  of  Sarum,  and  Home, 
Bishop  of  Winton,  constantly  reproached  them,  in  the  most 
pointed  terms,  that  they  revei  uud  been  consecrated  at  all; 
and  that  they  in  their  voluminous  replies,  never  accepted  of  the 
challenge  or  refuted  the  charge,  otherwise  than  by  ridiculing 
the  Catholic  consecration.  Thirdly,  it  appears  that  after  an 
interval  of  fifty  years  from  the  beginning  of  the  controversy, 
namely  in  the  year  1613,  when  Mason,  chaplain  to  Archbishop 
Abbot,  published  a  work,  referring  to  an  alleged  register  a* 
Lambeth,  of  Archbishop  Parker's  consecration  by  Barlow,  as- 
sisted by  Coverdale  and  others,  the  learned  Catholics  univer 
sally  exclaimed  that  the  register  was  a  forgery,  unheard  cf  til 
that  date  ;  and  asserted  among  other  arguments,  that,  admitMg 
it  to  be  true,  it  was  of  no  avail,  as  the  pretended  consocrator  ol 
Parker,  though  he  had  sat  in  several  sees,  had  not  hiraself  been 
cxinsecratea  for  any  of  them.  J 

»  Buniet's  Hist,  oi"  Reform.  Records,  B.  iii.  N.  21.  Sec  also  his  Rec 
Part  ii.  N.  2,  by  which  it  appears  that  Cranmer  and  the  other  complying 
prelates,  on  the  death  of  Henry  VHL,  took  out  fresh  commissions  from  Ed 
ward  VI.,  to  govern  their  dioceses,  durante  bene  placito,  like  mere  fivif 
officers.  II  Cullior's  Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  ii.,  p.  135. 

X  Richardson  in  his  notes  on  Goodwin's  Commer.taryis  forced  to  confear 
M  follows  :  "  Die.s  conaecrationis  ejus  (Barlow)  norjum  apparet."    V.  i'Ail. 


APOSTCTLlCi      .  185 

These,  however,  are  not  the  only  exceptions  which  Catholic 
divines  have  taken  to  the  ministerial  orders  of  the  Church  of 
England.  They  have  argued,  in  particular,  against  the  form 
of  them,  as  theologians  term  it.  In  fact,  according  to  the  or- 
dinal of  Edward  VI.,  restored  by  Elizabeth,  priosts  were  or- 
dained by  the  power  of  forgiving  sins,*  without  any  power  of 
offering  up  sacrifice,  in  which  the  essence  of  the  sacerdotmm  or 
priesthood  consists ;  and,  according  to  the  same  ordinal,  bishops 
were  consecrated  without  the  communication  of  any  fresh  power 
whatsoever,  or  even  the  mention  of  episcopacy,  by  a  form 
which  might  be  used  to  a  child,  when  confirmed  or  baptized. f 
This  was  agreeable  to  the  maxims  of  the  principal  author  of 
that  ordinal,  Cranmer,  who  solemnly  decided  that  "bishops  and 
priests  were  not  two  things,  but  one  and  the  same  office. "J  On 
this  subject  our  controvertists  urge,  not  only  the  authority  of  all 
the  Latin  and  Greek  ordinals,  but  also  the  confession  of  the 
above-mentioned  Protestant  divine.  Mason,  who  says,  with  evi- 
dent truth,  "  Not  every  form  of  words  will  serve  for  this  stitu- 
tion,  (conveying  orders,)  but  such  as  are  significant  of  the 
power  conveyed  by  the  order. "§  In  short,  these  objections 
were  so  powerfully  urged  by  our  divines.  Dr.  Champney,  J. 
Lewgar,  S.  T.  B.,||  and  others,  that  almost  immediately  after 
the  last  named  had  published  his  work  called  Erastus  Senior^ 
in  1662,  containing  them  ;  the  convocation,  being  assembled, 
altered  the  form  of  ordaining  priests  and  consecrating  bishops  in 
order  to  obviate  these  objections. IT  But  admitting  that  these 
alterations  are  sufficient  to  obviate  all  the  objections  of  our  di- 
vines to  the  ordinal,  which  they  are  not,  they  came  above  a 
hundred  years  too  late  for  their  intended   purpose ;  so  that  if 

*  *•  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost :  whose  sins  thou  dost  forgive,  they  are  for. 
given ;  and  whose  sins  thou  dost  retain,  they  are  retained  :  and  be  thou  a 
faitliful  dispenser  of  the  word  of  God,  and  of  his  holy  sacraments." — Bishop 
Sparrow's  Collection,  p.  158. 

t  *'  Take  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  remember  that  thou  stir  up  the  grace  of 
God,  which  is  in  thee  by  the  imposition  of  hanJs." — Ibid.  p.  164. 

t  Burnet's  Hist,  of  Reform,  vol.  i.    Record,  B.  iii.  n.  21,  quest.  10. 

4  Ibid.  B.  ii.  c.  16. 

il  Lewgar  was  the  friend  of  Chillingworth,  and  by  him  converted  to  the 
Catholic  failh,  which,  however,  he  refused  to  abandon  when  the  latter  re- 
lapsed into  latitudinarianism. 

1"  The  form  of  ordaining  a  priest  was  thus  wltered:  "Receivf  the  Holy 
Ghost  for  the  ofiice  and  work  of  a  priest  in  the  Church  of  Goo,  now  conv 
mitted  to  thee  by  the  imposition  of  our  hands :  Whose  sins  thou  shalt  for- 
give,  they  are  forgiven,"  &c. — The  form  of  consecrating  a  bishop  was  tnua 
enlarged  :  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  office  and  work  of  a  bishop 
m  the  Church  of  God,  now  committed  unto  thee  by  the  imposition  of  our 
hands,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Chcisv  , 
uid  remember  that  thou  a*^z  up  the  grace  of  God,  which  is  in  thaa* 


186  LETTER   XXIX. 

the  pri«sts  aYid  bishops  of  Edward's  and  Elizabeth's  reigna 
were  invalid ly  ordained    and  consecrated,  so  must  those  of 
Charles  the  Second's  reign,  and  their  successors,  have  been  also. 
However  long  I  have  dwelt  on  this  subject,  it  is  not  yet  ex 
hausted.     The  case  is   .here  is  the  same  necessity  of  an  apos. 
tolical  succession  of  nussion,  or  authority  to  execute  the  func- 
tions of  holy  orders,  as  of  the  holy  orders  themselves.     This 
mission,  or  authority,  was  imparted  by  Christ  to  his  apostles^ 
when   he  said  to  them  :  "As  the  Father  hath   sent  me,  I  alsc 
«end   you,"  John   xx.  21 ;  and  of  this  St.  Paul  also  speaks, 
(vhere  he  says  of  the  apostles  :  "  How  can  they  preach,  unless 
they  are  sent?"  Rom.  x.  15.     I   believe,  sir,  that  no  regular 
Protestant  church,  or  society,  admits  its  ministers  to  have,  by 
their  ordination  or  appointment,  unlimited  authority  in   every 
place  and  congregation.     Certain  it  is,  from  the  ordinal  and 
articles  of  the  Established  Church,  that  she  confines  the  juris- 
diction of  her  ministers  to  "  the  congregation  to  which  they 
shall    be    appointed."*      Conformably  to   this.    Dr.    Berkley 
leaches,  that  "  a  defect  in  the  mission  of  the  ministry,  invalid 
ates  the  sacraments,  affects  the  purity  of  public  worship,  and 
therefore  deserves  to  be  investigated  by  every  sincere  Chris- 
tian."f     To  this  Archdeacon  Daubeny  adds,  that   "  regular 
mission  only  subsists  in  the  churches  which  have  preserved 
apostolical  succession." — I  moreover  believe,  that  in  all  Pro- 
testant societies  the  ministers  are  persuaded,  that  the  authority 
by  which  they  preach  and   perform  their  functions  is,  in  some 
manner  or  other,  divine.     But,  on  this  head,  I  must  observe  to 
you,  dear  sir,  and  your  society,  that  there  are  only  two  ways, 
by  which  divine  mission  or  authority  can  be  communicated  ; 
the  one  ordinary,  the  other  extraordinary.     The  former  takes 
place,  when  this  authority  is  transmitted  in  regular  succession 
from   those  who  originally  received  it  from   God  ;  the  other, 
when  the  Almighty  interposes,  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  and 
immediately  commissions  certain   individuals  to  make  known 
his  will  to  men.     The  latter  mode  evidently  requires  indisputa- 
ble   miracles  to  attest   it :    and  accordingly,   Moses  and   our 
Saviour  Christ,  who  were  sent  in   this   manner,  constantly  ap- 
pealed  to  the  prodigies  they  wrought  in  proof  of  their  divine 
mission.     Hence  even  Luther,  when  Muncer,  Storck,  and  their 
followers,  the  Anabaptists,  spread  their  errors  and  devastations 
through  lower  Germany,  counselled  the  magistrates  to  put  these 
questions  to  them,  (not  reflecting  that  the  questions  were  as  ap- 
piicabi'e  to  himself  as  to  Yuncer  and  Storck,)   "  Who  conferred 

•  Article  C3.     Form  of  ordaining  priests  and  deacons. 

♦  Ser.n.  ai  Coiisecr.  of  Bishop  Home 


APOSTOLICITT.  187 

vpon  you  the  office  of  preaching  ?  And  who  commissioned  yarn 
to  preach  ?  If  they  answer  God  :  then  let  the  magistrates 
say :  Prove  this  to  us  by  some  evident  miracle  :  for  so  Goa 
makes  known  his  will,  when  he  changes  the  institutions  which 
he  had  before  established."*  Should  this  advice  of  the  first 
reformer  to  the  magistrates  be  followed  in  this  age  and  country, 
what  swarms  of  sermonizers  and  expounders  of  the  Bible  wouLi 
be  reduced  to  silence  !  For,  on  one  hand,  it  is  notorious,  that 
they  are  self-appointed  prophets,  who  run  laithout  being  sent ; 
01,  if  they  pretend  to  a  commission,  that  they  derive  it  from 
other  men,  who  themselves  had  received  none,  and  who  did  not 
so  much  as  claim  any,  by  regular  succession  from  the  apostles. 
Such  was  Luther  himself;  such  also  were  Zuinglius,  Calvin, 
Muncer,  Menno,  John  Knox,  George  Fox,  Zinzendorf,  Wesley, 
Whitfield,  and  Swedenborg.  None  of  these  preachers,  as  I 
have  signified,  so  much  as  pretended  to  have  received  their 
mission  from  Christ  in  the  ordinary  way,  by  uninterrupted  suc- 
cession from  the  apostles.  On  the  other  hand,  they  were  so  far 
from  undertaking  to  work  real  miracles,  by  way  of  proving  that 
they  had  received  an  extraordinary  mission  from  God,  that,  as 
Erasmus  reproached  them,  they  could  not  so  much  as  cure  a 
lame  horse,  in  proof  of  their  divine  legation. 

Should  your  friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  see  this  letter,  he 
will  doubtless  exclaim,  that,  whatever  may  be  the  case  with 
dissenters,  the  Church  of  England,  at  least,  has  received  her 
mission  and  authority,  together  with  her  orders,  by  regular  suc- 
cession from  the  apostles,  through  the  Catholic  bishops,  in  the 
ordinary  way. — In  fact,  this  is  plainly  asserted  by  the  Bishop 
of  Lincoln. f — But  take  notice,  dear  sir,  that  though  we  were  to 
admit  of  an  apostolical  succession  of  orders  in  the  Established 
Church,  we  never  could  admit  of  an  apostolical  succession  of 
mission,  jurisdiction,  or  right  to  exercise  those  orders  in  that 
church  :  nor  can  its  clergy,  with  any  consistency,  lay  the  least 
claim  to  it.  For,  first,  if  the  Catholic  Church,  that  is  to  say, 
its  "  laity  and  clergy,  all  sects  and  degrees,  were  drowned  in 
abcminable  idolatry,  most  detested  of  God  and  damnable  to 
man,  for  the  space  of  eight  hundred  years,"  as  the  homilies  af- 
fiim,:);  how  could  she  retain  this  divine  mission  and  jurisdiction 
fcll  this  time,  and  all  this  time  employ  them  in  commissicning 
her  clergy  to  preach  up  this  "  abominabU  idolatry  ?"  Again, 
was  it  possible  for  the  Catholic  Church  to  ^rive  jurisdiction  and 
authority,  to  Archbishop  Parker,  for  example,  and  the  Bishopi 
Jewel  and  Home,  to  preach  against  herself?    Did  ever  any  ii  . 

»  Sleid^n.  De  Stat.  Relig.  1.  v.  i  Elem.  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  p.  400. 

*  AgvJist  the  Perils  of  Idolatry,  p.  iii. 


1S8  LETTER    XIIX. 

surgents  against  an  established  government,  except  the  rogicidei 

in  the  grand  rebellion,  claim  authority  from  that  veiT"  govern- 
ment to  fight  against  it,  and  destroy  it  ?  In  a  word,  we  perfectly 
well  know,  fron^.  history,  that  the  first  English  Protestants  did 
not  profess,  any  more  than  foreign  Protestants,  to  derive  any 
mijision  or  authority  whatsoever  from  the  apostles,  through  the 
existing  Catholic  Church.  Those  of  Henry's  reign  preached 
and  ministered  in  defiance  of  all  authority,  ecclesiastica.  and 
civil.*  Their  successors  in  the  reign  of  Edward  and  Elizabeth 
claimed  their  whole  right  and  mission  to  preach  and  to  minister, 
from  the  civil  power  only.f  This  latter  point  is  demonstratively 
evident  from  the  act  and  the  oath  of  supremacy,  and  from  the 
homage  of  the  archbishops  and  bishops  to  the  said  Elizabeth  ; 
in  which  the  prelate  elect  "  acknowledges  and  confesses,  that 
he  holds  his  bishopric,  as  well  in  spirituals  as  in  temporals,  from 
her  alone  and  the  crown  royal."  The  same  thing  is  clear  from 
a  series  of  royal  ordinances  respecting  the  clergy,  in  matters 
purely  spiritual,  such  as  the  pronouncing  on  doctrine,  the  prohi- 
hition  of  prophesying,  the  inhibition  of  all  preaching,  the  giving 
and  suspending  of  sjdritual  faculties,  &c.  Now,  though  I  sin- 
cerely and  cheerfully  ascribe  to  my  sovereign  all  the  temporal 
and  civil  power,  jurisdiction,  rights,  and  authority,  which  the 
constitution  and  laws  ascribe  to  him,  I  cannot  believe  that  Christ 
appointed  any  temporal  prince  to  feed  his  mystical fiock,  or  any 
part  of  it,  or  to  exercise  the  power  of  ike  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  at  his  discretion.  It  was  foretold  by  Bishop  Fisher  in 
Parliament,  that  the  royal  ecclesiastical  supremacy,  if  once  ac 
knowledged,  might  pass  to  a  child  or  a  womanf,  as,  in  fact,  i* 
soon  did  to  each  of  them.  It  was  afterwards  transferred,  witl 
the  crown  itself,  to  a  foreign  Calvinist,  and  might  have  been 
settled,  by  a  lay  assembly,  on  a  Mahometan.  All,  however, 
that  is  necessary  for  me  here  to  remark  is,  that  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  a  royal  ecclesiastical  supremacy  "  in  all  spiritual 
and  ecclesiastical  things  or  causes,"§  (as  when  the  question  is, 
who  shall  preach,  baptize,  &c.,  and  who  shall  not ;  what  is 
sound  doctrine,  and  what  is  not,)  is  decidedly  a  renunciation  of 
Christ's  commission  given  to  his  apostles,  and  preserved  by  their 
successors  in  the  Catholic  Apostolic  Church. — Hence  it  clearly 

»  Collier's  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  81. 

t  In  the  reign  of  James  I.,  Archbishop  Abbot  having  incurred  suspensicn 
by  the  canon  law,  for  accidentally  shooting  a  n^an,  a  royal  commission  was 
issued  to  restore  him.  On  another  occasion,  he  was  suspended  by  ihe  king 
himself,  for  refusing  to  license  a  book.  In  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  bishops  ap- 
proved of  prophesying,  as  it  was  called  ;  the  queen  disapproved  of  it,  and 
the  obliged  them  to  condemn  it. 

X  See  his  Life  by  Dr.  Bniley  ;  also  Dodd's  Eccles.  Hist.  voL  i. 

<5  0am  of  Supremacy,  Homage  of  Bishops,  dec. 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  189 

appears,  that  there  is,  and  can  be,  no  apostolica'i  succession  of 
niinistry  in  the  Established  Church,  more  than  in  the  other  con- 
gregations or  societies  of  Protestants.  All  their  preaching  and 
ministering,  in  their  several  degrees,  is  performed  by  mere  hu- 
man authonfy.*  On  the  other  hand,  not  a  sermon  is  preached 
nor  a  child  baptized,  nor  a  penitent  absclved,  nor  a  priest  or. 
dained,  nor  a  bishop  consecrated,  throughout  the  whole  extent 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  witnout  the  minister  of  such  function 
being  able  to  show  his  authority  from  Christ  for  what  he  does, 
in  the  commission  of  Christ  to  his  apostles :  *•  All  power  in 
heaven  and  on  earth  is  given  to  me  :  go  therefore,  leach  all  na- 
tions, baptizing  them,"  &;c..  Matt,  xxviii.  19  ;  and  without  his 
being  able  to  prove  his  claim  to  that  commission  of  Christ,  by 
producing  the  table  of  his  uninterrupted  succession  from  the 
apostles. — I  will  not  detain  you  by  entering  into  a  comparison, 
in  a  religious  point  of  view,  between  a  ministry  which  officiates 
by  divine  authority,  and  others  which  act  by  mere  human  authori- 
ty ;  but  shall  conclude  this  subject  by  putting  it  to  the  good 
sense  and  candor  of  your  society,  whether,  from  all  that  has 
been  said,  it  is  not  as  evident,  which  among  the  different  com- 
munions is  THE  APOSTOLIC  CHURCH  we  profess  to  be- 
lieve in,  as  which  is  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  ? 

I  am,  &c. 

John  Milneb. 


LETTER  XXX.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ. 

OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

Dear  sir — 

I  FIND  that  your  visiter,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  had  not  left  you 
at  the  latter  end  of  last  week  ;  since  it  appears,  by  a  letter 
which  I  have  received  from  him,  that  he  had  seen  my  two  last 
letters,  addressed  to  you  at  New  Cottage.  He  is  much  dis- 
pleased with  their  contents,  which  I  am  not  surprised  at ;  and 
he  uses  some  harsh  expressions  against  them  and  their  author, 
of  which  I  do  not  complain,  as  he  was  not  a  party  to  the  agree- 
ment entered  into  at  the  beginning  of  our  correspondence,  by  the 
tenor  of  which  I  was  left  at  full  liberty  to  follow  up  my  argu- 
ments to  whatever  lengths  they  might  conduct  me,  without  in- 
curring the  displeasure  of  any  person  of  the  society  on  that  ac« 

*  It  is  curious  to  see  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  Injunctions,  and  m  the  37tij 
Article,  the  disclaimer  of  her  ^^  actually  ministering  the  word  and  th  sacra, 
ments.^'  The  question  was  not  about  this,  but  about  the  jurisdicticn  or  mi* 
tion  of  the  ministry. 


190  LETIER    IXX. 

count.  1  shall  pass  over  the  passages  in  the  letter  which  «eem 
to  have  been  dictated  by  too  warm  a  feeling,  and  shall  confine 
my  answer  to  those  which  contain  something  like  argument 
against  what  I  have  advanced. 

The  reverend  gentleman,  then,  objects  against  the  claim  of 
our  pontiffs  to  the  apostolic  succession  ;  that  in  different  ages 
this  succession  has  been  interrupted  by  the  contentions  of  rival 
popes  ;  and  that  the  lives  of  many  of  them  have  been  so  crimi- 
flal,  that,  according  to  my  own  argument,  as  he  says,  it  is  in- 
credible  th?.t  such  pontiffs  should  have  been  able  to  preserve 
and  convey  the  commission  and  authority  given  by  Christ  to  his 
apostles.  I  grant,  sir.  that,  from  the  various  commotions  and 
accidents  to  which  all  sublunary  things  are  subject,  there  have 
been  several  vacancies  or  interregnums  in  the  papacy  ;  but 
none  of  them  have  been  of  such  a  lengthened  duration  as  to 
prevent  a  moral  continuation  of  the  popedom,  or  to  hinder  the 
execution  of  the  important  offices  annexed  to  it.  I  grant,  also, 
that  there  have  been  rival  popes  and  unhappy  schisms  in  the 
church,  particularly  one  great  schism,  at  the  end  of  the  four- 
teenth and  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  ;  still  the  true 
pope  was  always  clearly  discernible  at  the  times  we  are  speak- 
ing of,  and  in  the  end  was  acknowledged  even  by  his  opponents. 
Lastly,  I  grant  that  a  few  of  the  popes,  perhaps  a  tenth  part  of 
the  whole  number,  swerving  from  the  example  of  the  rest,  have, 
by  their  personal  vices,  disgraced  their  holy  station  :  but  even 
these  popes  always  fulfilled  iheiv  puUic  duties  to  the  church,  by 
maintaining  the  apostolical  doctrine,  moral  as  well  as  specula- 
tive, the  apostolical  orders,  and  the  apostolical  mission ;  so  that 
their  misconduct  chiefly  injured  their  own  souls,  and  did  not 
essentially  affect  the  church.  But  if  what  the  homilies  affirm 
were  true,  that  the  whole  church  had  been  "  drowned  in  idola- 
try for  eight  hundred  years,"  she  must  have  taught  and  com- 
mi-ssioned  all  those  whom  she  ordained,  to  teach  this  horrible 
apostacy  ;  which  she  never  could  have  done,  and  at  the  same 
time  have  retained  Christ's  commission  and  authority  to  teacl 
all  nations  the  Gospel.  This  demonstrates  the  inconsistency  of 
those  clergymen  of  the  Establishment,  who  accuse  the  Catholic 
Cliurch  of  apostacy  and  idolatry,  and  at  the  same  time  boast  of 
having  received,  through  her,  a  spiritual  jurisdiction  and  minis- 
tr}'  from  Jesus  Christ. 

Your  visiter  next  expatiates,  in  triumphant  strains,  on  the  ex- 
ploded fable  of  Pope  Joan  ;  for  exploded  it  certainly  may  be 
termed,  when  such  men  as  the  Calvinist  minister  Blondel,  and 
the  infidel  Bayle,  have  abandoned  and  refuted  it.  But  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  fable  themselves  sufficiently  refute  it.  Ac- 
cording to  these,  in  the  middle  of  the  nintl  century,  an  English 


OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED.  19 

woman,  born  at  Mentz  in  Germany*  studied  philosophy  at 
Athens,  (where  there  was  no  school  of  philosophy  in  the  ninth 
century  more  than  there  is  now,)  and  taught  divinity  at  Rome. 
It  is  pretended  that,  being  elected  pope,  on  the  death  of  Leo  IV., 
in  855,  she  was  delivered  of  a  child,  as  she  was  walking  in  a 
solemn  procession  near  the  Coliseum,  and  died  on  the  spot ;  and, 
moreover,  that  a  statue  of  her  was  there  erected  in  memory  of 
the  disgraceful  event  f  There  have  been  great  debates  among 
the  learned,  concerning  the  first  author  of  this  absurd  tale,  and 
concerning  the  interpolations  in  the  copies  of  the  first  chronicles 
which  mention  it.f  At  all  events,  it  was  never  heard  of  for 
more  than  two  hundred  years  after  the  period  at  which  it  is  said 
to  have  taken  place.  And,  in  the  mean  time,  we  are  assured, 
from  the  genuine  works  of  contemporary  writers  and  distinguish- 
ed prelates,  some  of  whom  then  resided  at  Rome,  such  as  Anas- 
tasius  the  Librarian,  Luitprand,  Hincmar,  Archbishop  of  Rheims 
Photius  of  Constantinople,  Lupus  Ferrar,  &;c.,  that  Benedict  IlL 
was  canonically  elected  pope  in  the  said  year  855,  only  three 
days  after  the  death  of  Leo  IV.,  which  evidently  leaves  no  in- 
terval for  the  pontificate  of  the  fabulous  Joan. 

From  the  warfare  of  attack,  my  reverend  antagonist  passe?^ 
to  that  of  defence,  as  he  terms  it.  In  this  he  heavily  complaina 
of  my  not  having  done  justice  to  the  Protestants,  particularly  in 
the  article  of  foreign  missions.  On  this  head,  he  enumerates 
the  different  societies,  existing  in  this  country,  for  carrying  them 
on,  and  the  large  sums  of  money  which  they  annually  raise  for 
this  purpose.  The  societies,  I  learn  from  him,  are  the  follow. 
ing  :  1st,  The  society  for  promoting  Christian  knowledge,  called 
the  Bartlett's-Buildings  Society :  which,  though  strictly  of  the 
Establishment,  employs  missionaries  in  India  to  the  number  of 
six,  all  Germans,  and  it  should  seem,  all  Lutherans.  2dly, 
There  is  the  Society  for  propagating  Christianity  in  the  English 
colonies ;  but  I  hear  nothing  of  its  doings.  3dly,  There  is 
another  for  the  conversion  of  negro  slaves,  of  which  I  can  only 
say,  ditto.  4thly,  There  is  another  for  sending  missionaries  to 
Africa  and  the  East,  concerning  which  we  are  equally  left  in 
the  dark.  5thly,  There  is  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
which  sent  out  the  ship  Duff,  with  certain  preachers  and  their 
vrives,  to  Otaheite,  Tongabatoo,  and  the  Marquesas,  and  pub- 
lished a  journal  of  the  voyage,  by  which  it  appears  that  they 
are  strict  Calvinists  and  Independents.  6thly,  the  Edinburgh 
Missionary  Society  fraternizes  with  the  last  mentioned.  7thly, 
There  is  an  Arminian  Missionary  Society,  under  Dr.  Coke,  the 

•  Ita  Pseudo  Martinua  Polonus,  &c. 

t  See  Breviarum  Historico— Chronologico — critkum  Pontiff.  Roman,  stit 
Hlo  R.  F.  Pagi,  toin  ii.  p.  73. 


192  LETTER    XXX. 

head  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodists.  8thly,  There  is  a  Moravian 
Missionary  Society,  which  appears  more  active  than  any  of  the 
others,  particularly  at  the  Cape,  and  in  Greenland  and  Surinam. 
To  these,  your  visiter  says,  must  be  added,  the  Hibernian  So- 
ciety for  diffusing  Christian  knowledge  in  Ireland  ;  as  also,  and 
still  more  particularly,  the  Bible  Society,  with  all  its  numerous 
ranifications.  Of  this  last-named  he  speaks  glorious  things, 
IbiL^telling  that  it  will,  in  its  progress,  purify  the  world  from  in- 
fidelity and  wickedness. 

In  answer  to  what  has  been  stated,  I  have  to  mention  several 
marked  differences  between  the  Protestant  and  the  Catholic 
missionaries.  The  former  preach  various  discordant  religions  ; 
for  what  religions  can  be  more  opposite  than  the  Calvinistic  and 
the  Arminian  ?  And  how  indignant  would  a  churchman  feel, 
if  I  were  to  charge  him  with  the  impiety  and  obscenity  of  Zin- 
zendorf  and  his  Moravians  ?  The  very  preachers  of  the  same 
sect,  on  board  of  the  Duff,  had  not  agreed  upon  the  creed  they 
were  to  teach,  when  they  were  within  a  few  days  sail  of  Ota- 
heite.*  Whereas  the  Catholic  missionaries,  whether  Italians, 
French,  Portuguese,  or  Spaniards,  taught  and  planted  precisely 
the  same  religion  in  the  opposite  extremities  of  the  globe.  Se- 
condly, the  envoys  of  those  societies  had  no  commission  or  au- 
thority to  preach,  but  what  they  derived  from  the  men  and  wo- 
men who  contributed  money  to  pay  for  their  voyages  and  ac- 
commodations. /  have  not  sent  these  prophets,  says  the  Lord, 
yet  they  ran  ;  I  have  not  spoken  to  them,  yet  they  prophesied,  Jer. 
xxiii.  21.  On  the  other  hand,  the  apostolical  men,  who,  in  an- 
cient and  in  modern  times,  have  converted  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  all  derived  their  mission  and  authority  from  the  centre  ol 
the  Apostolic  Tree,  the  See  of  Peter.  Thirdly,  I  cannot  but 
remark  the  striking  difference  between  the  Protestant  and  the 
Catholic  misvsionaries,  with  respect  to  their  qualifications  and 
method  of  proceeding.  The  former  were,  for  the  most  part, 
mechanics  and  laymen  of  the  lowest  order,  without  any  learning 
infused  or  acquired,  beyond  what  they  could  pick  up  from  the 
English  translation  of  the  Bible ;  they  were  frequently  encum- 
bered with  wives  and  children,  and  armed  with  muskets  and 
bayonets,  to  kill  those  whom  they  could  not  convert. f     Whereas 

•  "  By  the  middle  of  January,  the  committee  of  eight  (among  the  thirty 
missionaries)  had  nearly  finished  the  articles  of  faith.  Two  of  the  numbei 
dissented,  but  gave  in." — Journal  of  the  Duff. 

t  The  18  preachers  who  remained  at  Otaheite,  "  took  up  arms  by  way  of 
precaution." — Ibid.  It  appears  from  subsequent  accounts,  that  the  preachen 
made  use  of  their  arms,  to  protect  their  wives  from  the  men  whom  they  came 
to  convert.  Of  the  nine  preacners  aestmed  for  Tongabatoo,  six  were  foi 
carrying  fire-arms  on  shore,  and  three  against  it. 


OBJECTTONS   ANSWERED.  lOA 

tne  Catholic  missionaries  have  always  beer  priests,  or  ascetics, 
trained  to  literature  and  religious  exercises,  men  of  continency 
and  self-denial,  who  had  no  other  defence  ihan  their  breviary 
and  crucifix,  no  other  weapon  than  ihe  sword  of  the  spirit,  which 
is  the  word  of  God.  Ephes.  vi.  17.  Fourthly,  I  do  not  find 
any  portion  of  that  lively  faith,  and  that  heroic  constancy,  in 
braving  poverty,  torments,  and  death  for  the  gospel,  among  the 
few  Protestant  converts,  or  even  among  their  preachers,  which 
have  so  frequently  illustrated  the  different  Catholic  missions, 
fndeed  I  have  not  heard  of  a  single  martyr  of  any  kind,  in  Asia, 
A-frica,  or  America,  who  can  be  considered  as  the  fruit  of  the 
above-named  societies,  or  of  any  Protestant  mission  whatever. 
On  the  other  hand,  few  are  the  countries  in  which  the  Christian 
religion  has  been  planted  by  Catholic  priests,  without  being 
watered  by  some  of  their  own  blood  and  of  that  of  their  con- 
verts. To  say  nothing  of  the  martyrs  of  a  late  date  in  the  Ca- 
tholic missions  of  Turkey,  Abyssinia,  Siam,  Tonquin,  Cochin 
China,  &c.,  there  has  been  an  almost  continual  persecution  of 
the  Catholics  in  the  empire  of  China,  for  about  a  hundred  year.--' 
p.ist,  which,  besides  confessors  of  the  faith,  who  have  endured 
various  tortures,  has  produced  a  very  great  number  of  martyrs, 
native  Chinese  as  well  as  Europeans,  laity  as  well  as  priests 
and  bishops.*  Within  these  two  years,f  the  wonderful  apostle 
of  the  great  peninsula  of  Corea,  to  the  east  of  China,  James  Ly, 
with  i\s  many  as  100  of  his  converts,  has  suffered  death  lor  the 
faith.  In  the  islands  of  Japan,  the  anti-christian  persecution, 
excited  by  the  envy  and  avarice  of  the  Dutch,  raged  with  a  fury 
unexampled  in  the  annals  of  pagan  Rome.  It  began  with  the 
crucifixion  of  twenty-six  martyrs,  most  of  them  missionaries. 
It  then  prLHjeeded  to  other  more  horrible  martyrdoms,  and  it 
concluded  with  putting  to  death  as  many  as  eleven  hundred 
thousand  Christians.^  Nor  were  those  numerous  and  splendid 
victories  of  the  gospel  in  the  provinces  of  South  America  achiev- 
ed without  torrents  of  Catholic  blood.  Many  of  the  first  preach- 
ers were  slaughtered  by  the  savages  to  whom  they  announced 
ihe  gospel,  and  not  unfrequently  devoured  by  them,  as  was  the 
ease  with  the  first  Bishop  of  Brazil. — In  the  last  place,  the  Pro- 
testant missions  have  never  been  attended  with  any  great  sue- 

•  Hist,  de  I'Eglise,  par  Berault  Bercastel,  torn.  22,  23.     Butler's  Lives  of 
he  Saints,  Feb.  5.     M^m.  Eccl6s.  pourle  18me  Sifecle. 

t  Namely,  in  18)1.  Wnile  this  work  was  in  the  press,  we  received  an  ac- 
■x>unt  of  the  martyrdom  of  Mgr.  Dufresse,  Bishop  of  Tabraca,  and  Vicar 
Apostolic  of  Sutchuen,  in  China,  who  was  beheaded  there  Sept.  14  18J5 
and  of  F.  J.  de  Frior,  missionary  in  Chiensi,  who,  after  varions  torments, 
was  strangled,  Feb.  13,  1816. 

t  Berault  Bercastel  says  two  millions,  torn.  20. 

17 


194  LETTER    XXX. 

cess.  Those  heretofore  carried  on  by  the  Dutcl^,  French^  aua 
American  Calvinists,  seem  to  have  been  more  levelled  at  the 
destruction  of  the  Catholic  missions  than  at  the  conversion  of 
the  pagans.*  In  later  times,  the  zealous  Wesley  went  on  a 
mission  to  convert  the  savages  of  Georgia,  but  returned  with- 
out making  one  proselyte.  His  companion  Whitfield  afterwards 
went  to  the  same  country  on  the  same  errand,  but  returned 
without  any  greater  success.  Of  the  missionaries  who  went 
out  in  the  Duff,  those  who  were  left  at  the  Friendly  Islands  and 
the  Marquesas,  abandoned  their  posts  in  despair,  as  did  eleven 
of  the  eighteen  left  at  Otaheite.  The  remaining  seven  had  not, 
in  the  course  of  six  years,  baptized  a  single  islander.  In  iie 
mean  time,  the  depravity  of  the  natives  in  killing  their  infants 
and  other  abominations,  increased  so  fast,  as  to  threaten  their 
total  extinction.  In  the  Bengal  government,  extending  over 
from  30  to  40  millions  of  people,  with  all  its  influence  and  en- 
couragement,  not  more  than  eighty  converts  have  been  made  by 
the  Protestant  missionaries  in  seven  years,  and  those  were  al. 
most  all  Chandalas,  or  outcasts  from  the  Hindoo  religion,  who 
were  glad  to  get  a  pittance  for  their  support  ;f  "  for  the  perse- 
verance  of  several  of  whom,"  their  instructors  say,  "  thejf 
tremble. "f — How  different  a  scene  do  the  Catholic  missions 
present !  To  say  nothing  of  ancient  Christendom,  all  the  king, 
doms  and  states  of  which  were  reclaimed  from  paganism,  and 
converted  to  Christianity  by  Catholic  preachers,  and  not  one  ot 
them  by  preachers  of  any  other  description  ;  what  extensive 
and  populous  islands,  provinces,  and  states,  in  the  east  and  in 
the  west,  were  wholly,  or  in  a  great  part,  reclaimed  from  ido. 
latry,  soon  after  Luther's  revolt,  by  Catholic  missionaries  !  But 

•  It  is  generally  known,  and  not  denied  by  Mosheim  himself,  that  the  ex. 
termination  of  the  flourishing  missions  in  Japan  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  Dutch, 
When  they  became  masters  of  the  Portuguese  settlements  in  India,  they  en. 
deavoied,  by  persecution  as  well  as  by  other  means,  to  make  the  Christian 
natives  abandon  the  Catholic  religion,  to  which  St.  Xaverius  and  his  compan. 
ions  had  converted  them.  The  Calvinist  preachers  having  failed  in  thDir 
attempt  to  proselyte  the  Brazilians,  it  happened  that  one  of  their  party,  Jamea 
Sourie.  took  a  merchant  vessel  at  sea  with  40  .Jesuit  missionaries,  under  F. 
Azevcdo,  on  board  of  it,  bound  to  Brazil ;  when,  in  hatred  of  them  and  their 
destination,  he  put  them  all  to  death.  The  year  following,  F.  Diaz  with  11 
companions,  bound  on  the  same  mission,  and  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
Calvinists,  met  with  the  same  fate.  Incredible  pains  were  taken  by  the  mi. 
nisters  of  New  England  to  induce  the  Hurons,  Iroquois,  and  other  converted 
savages,  to  abandon  the  Catholic  religion,  when  the  latter  answered  them. 
**  You  never  preached  the  word  to  us  while  we  were  pagans  ;  and  now  that 
we  are  Christians  you  try  to  deprive  us  of  it." 

t  Extract  of  a  Speech  of  C.  Marsh,  Esq.,  in  a  committeti  ot  the  H.  of  C, 
July  1,  1815.     See  als^  Major  Waring's  Remarks  on  Oxford  Sermons. 

4  Transact,  of  Pro' .  Miss,  quoted  in  Edinb.  Review,  April,  1808. 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  195 

to  come  still  nearer  to  our  own  time :  F,  Bouchet,  alone,  in  the 
C('Urse  of  his  twelve  years'  labors  in  Madura,  instructed  and 
baptized  20,000  Indians,  while  F.  Bri'.to,  within  fifteen  months 
only,  converted  and  regenerated  8,000,  when  he  sealed  his  mis- 
sion with  his  blooa.  By  the  latest  returns  which  I  have  seen, 
from  the  eastern  missionaries  to  the  directors  of  the  French 
Missions  Etrangdres,  it  appears  that  in  the  western  district  of 
Tonquin,  during  the  five  years  preceding  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  4,101  adults  and  26,915  children  were  received  into 
the  church  by  baptism,  and  that  in  the  lower  part  of  Cochin- 
China  900  grown  persons  had  been  baptized  in  the  course  of 
two  years,  besides  vast  numbers  of  children.  The  empire  of 
China  contains  six  bishops  and  some  hundreds  of  Catholic  priests. 
In  a  single  province  of  it,  Sutchuen,  during  the  year  1796, 
1,500  adults  were  baptized,  and  2,527  catechumens  were  re- 
ceived for  instruction.  By  letters  of  a  later  date  from  the 
above-mentioned  martyr,  Dufresse,  Bishop  of  Tabraca,  and 
Vicar  Apostolic  of  Sutchuen,  it  appears,  that  during  the  year 
1810,  in  spite  of  a  severe  persecution,  965  adults  were  baptized  ; 
and  that  during  1814,  though  the  persecution  increased,  829, 
without  reckoning  infants,  received  baptism.  Bishop  Lamote. 
Vicar  Apostolic  of  Fokien,  testifies  that,  in  his  district,  during 
the  year  1810,  10,384  infants  and  1,677  grown  persons  were 
baptized,  and  2,674  catechumens  admitted. — From  this  short 
specimen,  I  trust,  dear  sir,  it  will  appear  manifest  to  you,  on 
which  Christian  society  God  bestows  his  grace  to  execute  the 
work  of  the  apostles,  as  well  as  to  preserve  their  doctrine,  their 
orders,  and  their  mission. 

As  to  the  wonderful  effects  which  your  visiter  expects  in  the 
conversion  of  the  pagan  world,  from  the  Bible  Society,  and  the 
three  score  and  three  translations  into  foreign  tongues  of  the 
English  translation  of  the  Bible,  I  beg  leave  to  ask  him,  who  is 
to  vouch  to  the  Tartars,  Turks,  and  idolaters,  that  the  testa- 
ments and  Bibles  which  the  society  is  pouring  in  upon  them, 
were  inspired  by  the  Creator  ?  Who  is  to  answer  for  these 
translations,  made  by  officers,  merchants,  and  merchants'  clerks, 
being  accurate  and  faithful  ?  Who  is  to  teach  these  barbarians 
to  read,  and,  after  that,  to  make  any  thing  like  a  connected 
sense  of  the  mysterious  volumes  ?  Does  Mr.  C.  really  think 
that  an  inhabitant  of  Otaheite,  when  he  is  enabled  to  read  the 
Bible,  will  extract  tlie  sense  of  the  39  Articles,  or  of  any  other 
Christian  system  whatever  from  it  ?  I  ^  short,  has  the  Bible 
Society,  or  any  of  the  other  Protestant  societies,  converted  a 
single  pagan  or  Mahometan  by  the  hare  text  of  Scripture  ? 
When  such  a  convert  can  be  produced,  it  will  be  time  enough 
for  me  to  propose  to  him  th^se  further  gravellmg  questions 


196  LETTER    XXX. 

which  result  from  my  observations  on  the  sacred  text  in  a  for 
mer  letter  to  you.  In  the  mean  time,  let  your  visiter  rest  as 
sured  that  the  Catholic  Church  will  proceed  in  the  old  and  sue 
cessful  manner,  by  which  she  has  converted  all  the  Christiaii 
people  on  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  the  same  which  Christ  deliv. 
ered  to  his  apostles  and  their  successors :  "  Go  ye  into  all  th» 
world,  ULid  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  Mark,  xvi.  15. 
On  the  other  hand,  how  illusory  the  gentleman's  hopes  are,  that 
the  depravity  of  this  age  and  country  will  be  reformed  by  the 
fjflicrts  of  the  Bible  Society,  has  been  victoriously  proved  b}'  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Hook,  who,  with  other  clear-sighted  churchmen,  evi- 
dently sees  that  the  grand  principle  of  Protestantism,  strictly 
reduced  to  practice,  would  undermine  their  establishment.  One 
of  his  brethren,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gisborne,  had  publicly  boasted 
that,  in  proportion  to  the  opposition  which  the  Bible  Society  had 
met  with,  its  annual  income  had  increased,  till  it  reached  near 
a  £100,000  in  a  year.  Dr.  Hook,  in  return,  showed  by  lists 
of  the  convictions  of  criminals  during  tl  e  first  seven  years  of 
the  society's  existence,  that  the  wickedneiS  of  the  country,  in- 
stead of  being  diminished,  had  almost  been  doubled  !*  Since 
that  period  up  to  the  present  year,  it  has  increased  three-fold, 
and  four- fold,  compared  with  its  state  before  the  society  began. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

I  HAVE  now,  dear  sir,  completed  the  second  task  which  1 
undertook,  and  therefore  proceed  to  sum  up  my  evidence.  Hav- 
ing then  proved  in  my  twelve  former  letters,  the  rough  copies 
of  which  I  have  preserved,  that  the  two  alleged  rules  of  faith, 
that  of  pT'vate  inspiration,  and  that  of  private  interpretation  of 
Scripture,  are  equally  fallacious,  and  that  there  is  no  certain 
way  of  arriving  at  the  truth  of  divine  revelation,  but  by  hearing 
thai  church  which  Christ  built  on  a  rock,  and  promised  to  abide 

•  List  of  capital  convictions  in  London  and  Middlesex  in  the  following 
fears,  from  Dr.  Hook's  charge  and  the  London  Chronicle  : 


In  the  year 


Convictions 


1808 


728 


1809 


863 


1811 01 1811 1 1812 1 1813 
"884    872    998  1012 


1814 


1027 


1815 


2299 


181611817 
25923177 


It  appears,  by  a  return  made  to  the  House  of  Commons,  in  obedience  to 
their  order,  June  5,  in  the  year  1818,  that  the  number  of  criminals  commit, 
ted  for  trial,  and  of  those  sentenced  to  death,  during  the  last  thirteen  years, 
nearly  corresponding  with  those  of  the  Bible  Society's  progress,  has  been 
tbout  t/ipled,  namely  : 

Committed  for  Tiial.  Sentenced  to  Death. 

In  1805 1,605  In  1805 350. 

In  3317 13.932.  In  1817 1,308 


POSTSCRIPT.  197 

witlt  for  ever,  I  engaged,  in  this  my  second  series  of  letters,  to 
demonstrate  which,  among  the  different  societies  of  Christians, 
is  the  church  that  Christ  founded  and  still  protects.  For  this 
purpose  I  have  had  recourse  to  the  principal  cAarcrc/er^  or  TwarA:* 
of  ChrisCs  church,  as  they  are  pointed  out  in  Scripture,  and 
formally  acknowledged  by  Protestants  of  nearly  all  descriptions, 
no  less  than  by  Catholics,  in  their  articles,  and  in  those  creeds 
which  form  part  of  t]:eir  private  prayers  and  public  liturgy, 
namely,  unity,  sanctivj,  catholicity,  and  apostolicity.  In  facty 
this  is  what  every  one  acknowledges  who  says,  in  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  /  believe  in  the  holy  Catholic  Church ;  and  in  the  Nicene 
Creed,*  I  believe  one  Catholic  Apostolic  Church.  Treating 
of  the  first  mark  of  the  true  church,  I  proved  from  natural  rea- 
son, Scripture,  and  tradition,  that  unity  is  essential  to  her ;  I 
then  showed  that  there  is  no  union  or  principle  of  union  among 
the  different  sects  of  Protestants,  except  their  common  protesta- 
tion against  their  mother  church  ;  and  that  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, in  particular,  is  divided  against  herself  in  such  a  manner, 
that  one  of  its  most  learned  prelates  has  declared  himself  a/rafd 
to  say  what  is  its  doctrine.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  shown 
that  the  Catholic  Church,  spread  as  she  is  over  the  whole  earth, 
is  one  and  the  same  in  her  doctrine,  in  her  liturgy,  and  in  her 
government;  and,  though  I  detest  religious  persecution,  I  have, 
in  defiance  of  ridicule  and  clamor,  vindicated  her  unchangeable 
doctrine,  and  the  plain  dictate  of  reason  as  to  the  indispensable 
obligation  of  believing  what  God  teaches ;  in  other  words,  of  a 
right  faith.  I  have  even  proved  that  her  adherence  to  this  tenet  is 
a  proof  both  of  the  truth  and  the  charity  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
On  the  subject  of  holiness,  J  have  made  it  clear,  that  the  pre- 
tended Reformation  everywhere  originated  in  the  pernicious 
doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  alone,  without  good  works,  and  '.hat 
the  Catholic  Church  has  ever  taught  the  necessity  of  them  b  th  ; 
likewise  that  she  possesses  many  peculiar  means  of  sanctitt,,  to 
which  modern  sects  do  not  make  a  pretension ;  likewise  that 
she  'las,  in  every  age,  produced  the  genuine  fruits  of  sanctity  ; 
while  the  fruits  of  Protestantism  have  been  quite  of  an  opposite 
nature  :  finally,  that  God  himself  has  borne  witness  to  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  Catholic  Church,  by  undeniable  mirachs,  with  which 
he  has  illustrated  her  in  every  age. — It  did  not  require  jnuch 
pains  to  prove  that  the  Catholic  Church  possesses,  exclusively, 
the  name  of  CATHOLIC ;  and  not  much  more  to  demonstrate 
that  she  alone  has  the  qualities  signified  by  that  name.  That 
the  Catholic  Church  is  also  APOSTOLICAL,  by  descending  in 
a  light  line  from  the  apostles  of  Christ,  is  as  evident  as  that 

•  See  the  Comi  lunion  Service  in  Common  Prayec 
17* 


1 98  POSTSCRIPT. 

she  is  Catholic.  However,  to  illustrate  this  matter,  I  have 
iketched  out  a  genealogical,  or,  as  I  call  it,  the  apostolical 
tree,  which,  with  the  help  of  a  note  subjoined,  shows  the  unin- 
terrupted  succession  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  her  chief  pon- 
tiffs, and  other  illustrious  prelates,  doctors,  and  renowned  saints, 
from  the  apostles  of  Christ,  during  eighteen  centuries,  to  the 
present  period,  together  with  the  continuation  in  her  of  the  apos- 
tolical  work  of  converting  nations  and  people-  It  shows  also  a 
se/ies  of  unhappy  heretics  and  schismatics,  of  different  times 
and  countries,  who,  refusing  to  hear  her  inspired  voice  and  to 
obey  her  divine  authority,  have  been  separated  from  her  com- 
munion  and  have  withered  away,  like  branches  cut  off  from  a 
vine,  which  are  fit  for  no  human  use.  Ezek.  xv. — Finally,  1 
have  shown  the  necessity  of  an  uninterrupted  succession  from 
the  apostles,  of  holy  orders  and  divine  mission,  to  constitute  an 
apostolical  church ;  and  have  proved  that  these,  or  at  least  the 
latter  of  them,  can  only  be  found  in  the  holy  Catholic  Church. — 
Having  demonstrated  all  this  in  the  foregoing  letters,  I  am  jus- 
tified, dear  sir,  in  affirming  that  the  motives  of  credibility,  in  fa- 
vor of  the  Christian  religion  in  general,  are  not  one  whit  more 
clear  and  certain,  than  those  in  favor  of  the  Catholic  religion 
in  particular.  But  without  inquiring  into  the  degree  of  evidence 
attending  the  latter  motives,  it  is  enough  for  my  present  purpose 
that  they  are  sufficiently  evident  to  influence  the  conduct  of  dis- 
passionate and  reasonable  persons,  who  are  acquainted  with 
them,  and  who  are  really  in  earnest  to  save  their  souls.  Now, 
in  proof  that  these  motives  are,  at  least,  so  far  clear,  I  may 
again  appeal  to  the  conduct  of  Catholics  on  a  death-bed,  who, 
in  that  awful  situation,  never  wish  to  die  in  any  religion  but 
their  own.  I  may  also  appeal  to  the  conduct  of  many  Protest- 
ants in  the  same  situation,  who  seek  to  reconcile  themselves  to 
the  Catholic  Church.  Let  us,  one  and  all,  my  dear  sir,  as  far 
as  in  our  power,  adopt  those  sentiments  in  every  respect  now, 
which  we  shall  entertain  when  the  transitory  scene  of  this  worhi 
is  closing  to  our  sight,  and  during  the  courtless  ages  of  eter- 
nity.— O  the  length,  the  breadth,  and  the  depth  of  the  abyss  of 
ETERNITY!  ''No  security,''  says  a  holy  man,  can  U  uie 
reai  where  eternity  is  at  slake.''* 

I  am,  &;c. 

John  Milnes, 

*  "  Nulla  satis  magna  sccuntas  ubi  p  ericlitatur  etemitas.** 


END    OF    PART    11. 


THE 

END   OF   RELIGIOUS    CONTROVERSY 


PART     III 


*"  0^  e  a  sli?me  to  charge  men  with  ^yhat  they  are  not  guilty  of,  in  ordei  to 
irak.  he  breach  wider,  already  loo  wide." — Dr.  Montague,  Bishop  of  A'or- 
t$ttch.     fnvoc.  of  Saints,  p.  60. 

"  Lvt  them  not  lead  people  by  the  nose  to  believe  they  can  prove  their  sup- 
positi/kd  that  the  Pope  is  Antichrist,  and  the  Papists  idolaters,  when  they  can- 
not."- J)r.  Herbert  Thomdyke,  Prebendary  of  JVestminster.  Just  JVeights  and 
Measures,  p.  11 

*'  The  o)ject  of  their  (the  Catholics')  adoration  of  the  blessed  sacrament  is 
the  only  tcac  and  eternal  God,  hypostatically  joined  with  his  holy  humanity, 
which  huniaYiity  they  believe  actually  present  under  the  veil  of  the  sacramen- 
tal  signs .  and  \f  they  thought  him  not  present,  they  are  so  far  from  worshiji- 
ping  t'.K- Wead  in  this  case,  that  themselves  profess  it  to  be  idolatry  to  do  so." 
Dr.  J(/xmy  Taylvr,  Bishop  of  Down.    Ldberty  of  Prophesying,  chap.  xx. 


ON   RECTIFYING  MISTAKES  CONCERNING   THE 
CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

LETTER  XXXl. 
FROM  JAMES  BROW  \,  ESQ.,  TO  THE  RT.  REV  JOHN  MILNER 

introduction. 

Reverend  sir — 

The  whole  of  your  letters  have  again  been  read  over  in  our 
society,  and  they  have  produced  important,  though  diversified 
effects  on  the  minds  of  its  several  members.  For  my  own  part, 
r  am  free  to  own  that,  as  your  former  letters  convinced  me  of 
tre  truth  of  your  rule  of  faith,  namely,  the  entire  word  of  God, 
and  of  the  right  of  the  true  church  to  expound  it  in  all  ques. 
tions  concerning  its  meaning  ;  so  your  subsequent  letters  havo 
Batisfied  me,  that  the  characters  or  marks  of  the  true  church, 
as  they  are  laid  down  in  our  common  creeds,  are  clearly  visi- 
ble in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  not  in  the  collection  of 
Protestant  churches,  nor  in  any  one  of  them.  This  impression 
was,  at  first,  so  strong  upon  my  mind,  that  I  could  have  an' 
BW(\r^1  you  nearly  in  the  words  of  King  Agrippa  to  St.  Paul  • 


200  LETTER    XXXII. 

Almost  thou penmadest  me  to  become  a  CatholJc.  Acts,  xxvi.  ^8. 
The  same  appears  lo  be  the  sentiments  of  several  of  my  friends  • 
but  when,  on  comparing  our  notes  together,  we  considered  tlia 
heavy  charges,  particularly  of  superstition  and  idolatry,  brought 
against  your  church  by  our  eminent  divines,  and  especially  by 
the  Bishop  of  London,  (Dr.  Porteus,)  and  never,  that  we  have 
heard  of,  refuted  or  denied,  we  cannot  but  tread  back  the  steps 
we  have  taken  towards  you,  or  rather  stand  still,  where  we  are 
in  suspense,  till  we  hear  what  answer  you  will  make  to  them. 
I  speak  of  those  contained  in  the  bishop's  well-known  treatise, 
called  A  brief  Confutation  of  the  Errors  of  the  Church  of  Borne. 
With  respect  to  certain  other  members  of  our  society,  I  am 
sorry  to  be  obliged  to  say,  that,  on  this  particular  subject,  1 
mean  the  arguments  in  favor  of  your  religion,  they  do  not  man- 
ifest the  candor  and  good  sense  which  are  natural  to  them,  and 
which  they  show  on  every  other  subject.  They  pronounce, 
with  confidence  and  vehemence,  that  Dr.  Porteus's  charges  are 
all  true,  and  that  you  cannot  make  any  rational  answer  to 
them ;  at  the  same  time  that  several  of  these  gentlemen,  to  my 
knowledge,  are  very  little  acquainted  whh  the  substance  of 
them.  In  short,  they  are  apt  to  load  your  religion,  and  the  pro 
fessors  of  it,  with  epithets  and  imputations  too  gross  and  in 
jurious  for  me  to  repeat,  convinced  as  I  am  of  their  falsehood. 
I  shall  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  some  of  these  imputations 
have  been  transmitted  to  you  by  the  persons  in  question,  as  I 
have  declined  making  my  letters  the  vehicle  of  them ;  it  is  a 
justice,  however,  which  I  owe  them  to  assure  you,  reverend 
sir,  that  it  is  only  since  they  have  understood  the  inference  of 
your  arguments  to  be  such,  as  to  imply  an  obligation  on  them 
of  renouncing  their  own  respective  religions,  and  embracing 
yours,  that  they  may  have  been  so  unreasonable  and  violent. 
Till  this  period,  they  appeared  to  be  nearly  as  liberal  and  cha»' 
itable  with  respect  to  your  communion  as  to  any  other. 

I  am,  rev.  sir,  &c. 

James  Brown. 


LETTER  XXXII.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  &c 

ON  THE  CHARGES  AGAINST  THE  CATHOLIC 
CHURCH. 

Pear  sir — 

I  SHOULD  be  guilty  of  deceptron,  were  I  to  disguise  the  satii»r 
faction  I  derived  from  your  and  your  friends'  near  approach  tf 
the  house  of  unit^  and  peace,  as  St.  Cjprian  calls  the  Catholic 


CHARGES   AGAINST    THE    CHURCH.  201 

Church  :  for  such  I  must  judge  your  situation  to  be,  from  the 
tenor  of  your  last  letter :  by  which  it  seems  to  me,  that  3  our 
entire  reconciliation  with  this  church  depends  on  my  refuting 
Bishop  P3rteus's  objections  against  it.  And  yet,  dear  sir,  if  I 
were  to  insist  on  the  strict  rules  of  reasoning,  I  might  tal:e  oc- 
casion of  complaining  of  you,  from  the  very  concessions  which 
afford  me  so  much  pleasure.  In  fact,  if  you  admit  tha^t  the 
church  of  God,  is,  by  his  appointment,  the  interpreter  of  th$ 
entire  word  of  God,  you  ought  to  pay  attention  to  her  doctrine 
on  every  point  of  it^  and  not  to  the  suggestions  of  Lr.  Porteus. 
or  your  own  fane;',  in  opposition  to  it.  Again,  if  you  are  con- 
vinced that  the  one  holy,  Catholic  and  Apostolical  Church  is  the 
true  church  of  God,  you  ought  to  be  persuaded  that  it  is  utterly 
impossible  that  she  should  inculcate  idolatry,  superstition,  or 
any  other  wickedness,  and,  of  course,  that  those  who  believe 
her  to  be  thus  guilty,  are,  and  must  be,  in  a  fatal  error.  I 
have  proved  from  reason,  tradition,  and  Holy  Scripture,  that,  as 
individual  Christians  cannot  of  themselves  judge  with  certainly 
of  matters  of  fahh,  God  has,  therefore,  provided  them  with  an 
unerring  guide,  in  his  holy  church  ;  and  hence,  that  Catholics, 
as  Tertullian  and  St.  Vincent  of  Lerins  emphatically  pro- 
nounce, cannot  strictly  and  consistently  be  required,  by  those 
who  are  not  Catholics,  to  vindicate  the  particular  tenets  of  their 
belief  either  from  Scripture  or  any  other  authority :  it  being 
sufficient  for  them  to  show  that  they  hold  the  doctrine  of  the 
true  church,  which  all  Christians  are  bound  to  hear.  Never- 
theless, as  it  is  my  duty,  after  the  example  of  the  apostle,  to 
become  all  things  to  all  men,  1  Cor.  ix.  22,  and  as  we  Catholics 
are  conscious  of  being  able  to  meet  our  opponents  on  their  own 
ground,  as  well  as  on  ours,  I  am  willing,  dear  sir,  for  yOur  sat- 
isfaction, and  that  of  your  friends,  to  enter  on  a  brief  discussion 
of  the  leading  points  of  controversy,  which  are  agitated  between 
the  Catholics  and  the  Protestants,  particularly  those  of  the 
Church  of  England.  I  must,  however,  previously  stipulate 
with  you  for  the  following  conditions,  which  I  trust  ycu  will 
find  perfectly  reasonable, 

1st.  I  require  that  Cat.iolics  should  be  permitted  fo  lay  doum 
their  own  principles  of  belief  and  practice  ;  and,  of  course,  to 
disti  .guish  between  their  articles  of  faith,  in  which  they  mu'jl 
all  agree,  and  mere  scholastic  opinions,  of  which  every  individ- 
ual may  judge  for  himself;  as,  likewise,  between  the  au- 
ihorized  liturgy  and  discipline  of  the  church  and  the  unauthorized 
devotions  and  practices  of  particular  persons.  I  insist  upon  this 
preliminary,  because  it  is  the  constant  practice  of  your  contro- 
versialijts  to  dress  up  a  hideous  figure,  composed  of  their  own 
misrepresentations,   or  else  of  those  undefined  opinions  and  un« 


202  LETTER    XXXII. 

autliorizad  practices  which  they  call  Popery;  and  then  to 
amuse  their  readers  r  hearers  with  exposing  the  deformity  of 
it,  and  pulling  it  to  pieces.  And  I  have  the  greater  right  to 
insist  upon  this  preliminary,  because  our  creeds  and  professions 
of  faith,  the  acts  of  our  councils  and  our  approved  expositiona 
and  catechisms,  containing  the  principles  of  our  belief  and 
practice,  from  which  no  real  Catholic,  in  any  part  of  the  world, 
can  ever  depart,  are  before  the  public,  and  upon  constant  sale 
among  booksellers. 

2dly.  It  being  a  notorious  fact  that  certain  individual  Chris- 
tians, or  bodies  of  Christians,  have  departed  from  the  faith  and 
communion  of  the  church  of  all  nations,  under  pretence  that 
they  had  authority  for  so  doing  ;  it  is  necessary  that  their  al- 
leged authority  should  be  express  and  incontrovertible.  Thus, 
for  example,  if  texts  of  Scripture  are  brought  for  this  purpose, 
it  is  evidently  necessary  that  such  texts  should  be  clear  in  them- 
selves, and  not  contrasted  by  any  other  texts  seemingly  of  an 
opposite  meaning.  In  like  manner,  when  any  doctrine  or  prac- 
tice appears  to  be  undeniably  sanctioned  by  a  father  of  the 
church,  for  example,  of  the  third  or  the  fourth  century,  without 
an  appearance  of  contradiction  from  any  other  father,  or  eccle- 
siastical writer,  it  is  unreasonable  to  affirm  that  he  or  his  con 
temporaries  were  the  authors  of  it,  as  Protestant  divines  are  in 
the  habit  of  affirming.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  natural  to  sup- 
pose that  such  father  has  take.Ti  up  this,  with  the  other  points  of 
his  religion,  from  his  predecessors,  who  received  them  from  the 
apostles.  This  is  the  sentiment  of  that  bright  luminary  St. 
Augustin,  who  says :  "  Whatever  is  found  to  be  held  by  the 
universal  church,  and  not  to  have  had  its  beginning  in  bishops 
and  councils,  must  be  esteemed  a  tradition  from  those  by  whom 
the  church  itself  was  founded."* 

You  judged  right  in  supposing  that  I  have  received  some  let- 
ters,  containing  virulent  and  gross  invectives  against  the  Catho- 
lic religion,  from  certain  members  of  your  society  ;  these  do 
not  surprise  or  hurt  me,  as  the  writers  of  them  have  probably 
not  yet  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  much  more  of  this  reli- 
gion, than  what  they  could  collect  from  fifth  of  November  g«r 
mon?,  and  others  of  the  same  tendency  ;  oi  from  circulated 
pamphlets  expressly  calculated  to  inflame  the  population  against 
ii  and  its  profe&3Drs.  But  what  truly  surprises  and  afflicts  me 
is,  that  so  many  other  personages  in  a  more  elevated  rank  of 
life,  whose  education  and  studies  enable  them  to  form  a  more 
just  idea  of  the  religious  and  moral  principles  of  their  ances- 
'jiTs,  benefactors,  and    founders ;    in    short,  of  their   acknow 

•  liK  i'.  De  BapU 


CHARGES    AGAINST    THE    CIII3RCH.  203 

fedged  fathers  and  saints,  should  combine  to  load  these  fathers 
and  saints  with  calumnies  and  misrepresentations,  which  they 
must  know  to  be  utterly  false.  But,  a  bad  cause  must  be  sup- 
ported by  bad  means.  They  are  unfortunately  implicated  in  a 
revolt  against  the  true  church  ;  and  not  having  the  courage 
and  self-denial  io  acknowledge  their  error,  and  return  to  her 
communion,  the}  endeavor  to  justify  their  conduct,  by  interpos- 
ing a  black  and  hideous  mask  before  the  fair  countenance  of 
this  their  true  m)ther,  Christ's  spotless  spouse.  This  is  so  far 
true,  that  when,  as  it  often  happens,  a  Protestant  is,  by  dint  of 
argument,  forced  out  of  his  errors  and  prejudices  against  the 
true  religion,  if  he  be  pressed  to  embrace  it,  and  want  grace  to 
do  it,  he  is  sure  to  fly  back  to  those  very  calumnies  and  mis- 
representations, which  he  had  before  renounced.  The  fact  is, 
he  must  fight  with  these,  or  yield  himself  unarmed  to  his  Catho- 
lic opponent. 

That  you  and  your  friends  may  not  think  me,  dear  sir,  to 
have  complained  without  just  cause  of  the  publications  and  ser- 
mons of  the  respectable  characters  I  have  alluded  to,  I  must 
inform  you  that  I  have  now  lying  before  me  a  volume  called 
Good  Advice  to  the  Pulpiis,  consisting  of  the  foulest  and  most 
malignant  falsehoods,  against  the  Catholic  religion  and  its  pro- 
fessors, which  tongue  or  pen  can  express,  or  the  most  envenomed 
heart  conceive.  It  was  collected  from  the  sermons  and  treati- 
ses of  prelates  and  dignitaries,  by  that  able  and  faithful  writer, 
the  Rev.  John  Gother,soon  after  the  gall  of  calumnious  ink  had 
been  mixed  up  with  the  blood  of  slaughtered  Catholics ;  a  score 
of  whom  were  executed  as  traitors,  for  a  pretended  plot  to  mur- 
der their  friend  and  proselyte  Charles  II.;  for  a  plot,  which  was 
hatched  by  men,  who  themselves  were  soon  after  convicted  of  a 
real  assassination  plot  against  the  king.  At  that  time,  the  Par- 
liaments were  so  blinded,  as  repeatedly  to  vote  the  reality  of  the 
plot  in  question.  Hence  it  is  easy  to  judge  with  what  sort  of 
language  the  pulpits  would  resound  against  the  poor  devoted 
Catholics  at  that  period.  But  without  quoting  from  former  re. 
cords,  I  need  only  refer  to  a  few  of  the  publications  of  the  pre- 
sent day,  to  justify  my  complaint. — To  begin  with  some  of  the 
numberless  slanders  contained  in  the  No  Popery  tract  of  the 
Bishop  of  London,  Dr.  Porteus :  He  charges  Catholics  with 
"senseless  idolatry,  to  the  infinite  scandal  of  religion:"  with 
tr}'ing  "  to  make  the  ignorant  think  that  indulgences  deliver 
the  dead  from  hell;  and  that  by  means  of  zeal  for  holy  churcti, 
the  worst  man  may  be  secured  from  future  misery  :"*  and  t)f4 
Bishop  of  St.    Asaph,   Dr.  Halifax,   charges  Catholics   liit^ 

•  ConfuUtion,  pp.  39,  53,  55,  edit.  1796, 


204  LETTER    XXXII. 

"antichristian  idolatry,  the  worship  of  demons,  and  idol  m(.dia« 
tors."  He,  moreover,  maintains  it  to  be  the  doctrine  oi  the 
Church  of  Rome,  that  "  pardon  for  every  sin,  whether  com- 
mitted or  designed,  may  be  purchased  for  money."*  The 
Bishop  of  Durham,  Dr.  Shute  Harrington,  accuses  them  of 
*'  idolatry,  blasphemy,  and  sacrilege."!  The  Bishop  of  Llandaff, 
Dr.  Watson,  impeaches  the  Catholic  priests,  martyrologists,  and 
monks,  without  exception,  of  the  ''hypocrisy  of  liars  ;":|:  and 
he  lays  it  down,  as  the  moral  doctrine  of  Catholics,  that  "humil- 
ity, temperance,  justice,  the  love  of  God  and  man,  are  not  laws 
for  all  Christians,  but  only  counsels  of  perfection. "§  He  else- 
where says  :  "  That  the  popish  religion  is  the  Christian  religion, 
is  a  false  position. "||  He  has,  moreover,  adopted  and  repub- 
lished  the  sentiments  of  some  of  his  other  mitred  brethren  to  the 
same  purpose.  One  of  these  asserts  that,  "  instead  of  worship- 
ping God  through  Christ,  they  (the  Catholics)  have  substituted 
the  doctrine  of  demons."  "  They  have  contrived  numberless 
ways  to  make  a  holy  life  needless,  and  to  assure  the  most 
abandoned  of  salvation,  without  repentance,  provided  they  will 
sufficiently  pay  the  priest  for  absolution."  "  They  have  consc 
crated  murders,"  &;c.l  "  The  Papists  stick  fast  in  filthy  mire- 
by  the  affection  they  bear  to  other  lusts,  which  their  errors  are 
fitted  to  gratify."  "  It  is  impossible  that  any  sincere  person 
should  give  an  implicit  assent  to  many  of  their  doctrines :  but. 
whoever  can  practise  upon  them,  can  be  nothing  better  than  a 
most  shameful  debauched  and  immoral  wretch."**  Another 
prelate,  of  later  promotion,  gives  a  comprehensive  idea  of  Cath- 
olics, where  he  calls  them  "  Enemies  of  all  law,  human  and 
divine. "ff  If  such  be  the  tone  of  the  episcopal  bench,  it  would 
be  vain  to  expect  more  moderation  from  the  candidates  for  it . 
but  I  must  contract  my  quotations  in  order  to  proceed  to  more 
important  matter.  One  of  these,  who,  while  he  was  content 
with  an  inferior  dignity,  acted  and  preacl  ed  as  the  friend  of 
C^itholics;  since  he  has  arrived  at  the  verg»  of  the  highest,  pro 
claims  "  Popery  to  be  idolatry  and  antichristianism  :"  main- 
taining, as  does  also  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  that  it  is  "  the  pa- 
rent  of  Atheism,  and  of  that  antichristian  persecution  "  (m 
France)  of  which  it  was  exclusively  the  victim. ift  Another  dig- 
nitary  of  the  same  cathedral,  taking  up  Dr.  Sparke's  calumny, 

*  Warburton's  Lectures,  pp.  191,  335,  ^^S,  347. 

t  Charge,  p.  11.  t  Letter  IL  to  Gibbon. 

§  Bishop  Watson's  Tracts,  vol.  i.  |1  Ibid.  vol.  v.  Contents 

f  Benson's  Tracts,  vol.  v.  pp.  272,  273,  282. 

«»  Bishop  Fowler,  vol.  vi.  pp.  386,  387. 

tt  Dr.  Sparke,  Bishop  of  Ely,  Concio  ad  Synod.     1807. 

XX  Discourses  of  Dr.  Rennel,  Dean  of  Winchester,  p.  MO,  &e 


CHARGES    AGAINST    THE    CHURCH.  205 

seriously  declares  that  the  Catholics  are  Antinomians,*  which 
is  the  distinctive  character  of  the  Jumpers,  and  other  rank  Cal- 
vinists.  Finally,  the  celebrated  city  preacher,  C.  De  Coetiogan, 
among  similar  graces  of  oratory,  pronounces,  that  "  Popery  ia 
calculated  only  for  the  meridian  of  hell.  To  say  the  best  of  it 
that  can  be  said.  Popery  is  a  most  horrid  compound  of  idolatiy, 
superstition,  and  blasphemy."!  "  The  exercise  of  Christian 
virtues  is  not  at  all  necessary  in  its  members  ;  nay,  there  are 
many  heinous  crimes,  which  are  reckoned  virtues  among  them, 
such  as  perjury  and  murder,  when  committed  against  here- 
tics.":}:— And  is  such  then,  dear  sir,  the  real  character  of  the 
great  body  of  Christians  throughout  the  world.  Is  such  a  true 
picture  of  our  Saxon  and  English  ancestors  ?  Were  such  the 
clergy,  from  whom  these  modern  preachers  and  writers  derive 
their  liturgy,  their  ritual,  their  honors,  and  benefices,  and  from 
whom  they  boast  of  deriving  their  orders  and  mission  also  ?  But, 
after  all,  do  tiiese  preachers  and  writers  themselves  seriously 
believe  such  to  be  the  true  character  of  their  Catholic  country, 
men,  and  the  primitive  religion  ? — No,  sir,  they  do  not  seriously 
believe  it  :§  but  being  unfortunately  engaged,  as  I  said  before, 

*  Charge  of  Dr.  Hooke,  archdeacon,  &c.  p.  5,  &c. 

t  Seasonable  Caution  against  the  Abominations  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
Pref.  p.  5.  t  Ibid.  p.  14. 

§  This  may  be  exemplified  by  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Wake,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  Few  writers  had  misrepresented  the  Catholic  religion  more 
foully  than  he  had  done  in  his  controversial  works  ;  even  in  his  commentary 
on  the  catechism,  he  accuses  it  of  heresy,  schism,  and  idolatry;  but,  having 
entered  into  a  correspondence  with  Dr.  Dupin,  for  the  purpose  of  uniting 
their  respective  churches,  he  assures  the  Catholic  divine,  in  his  last  letter  to 
him,  as  follows :  "  In  dogmatibus,  prout  a  te  candid6  proponuntur,  non 
admodum  dissentimus :  in  regimine  ecclesiastico  minus  :  in  fundamentali- 
bus,  sive  doctrinam,  sive  disciplinam  spectemus,  vix  omnin6."  Append,  to 
Mosheim's  Hist.  vol.  vi.  p.  121. — The  present  writer  has  been  informed, 
on  good  authority,  that  one  of  ihe  bishops,  whose  calumnies  are  here  quoted, 
when  he  found  himself  on  his  death. bed,  refused  the  proffered  ministry  of 
the  primate,  and  expressed  a  great  wish  to  die  a  Catholic.  When  urged  to 
satisfy  his  conscience,  he  exclaimed  :  IVhat  then  will  become  of  my  lady 
and  my  children  !  Certain  it  is,  that  very  many  Protestants,  who  had  been 
the  most  violent  in  their  language  and  conduct  against  the  Catholic  Church, 
as  for  example,  .John,  Elector  of  Saxony  ;  Margaret,  Queen  of  Navarre  ; 
Cromwell,  Lord  Essex,  Dudley,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  King  Charles  II , 
the  late  Lords  Montague,  Nugent,  Dunboyne,  Dunsany,  &c.,  did  actually 
reconcile  themselves  to  the  Catholic  Church  in  that  Sriiuation.  The  writer 
may  add,  that  another  of  the  calumniators  here  quoted,  being  desirous  of 
stifling  the  suspicion  of  his  having  written  an  anonymous  N'l  Popery  pub. 
lication,  when  first  he  took  part  in  that  cause,  privately  addres  ed  himsf  If  to 
the  writer  in  these  terms  :  How  can  you  suspect  me  of  writing  against  your 
religion,  when  you  so  well  know  my  attachment  to  it  !  In  fact,  this  modern 
Luther,  among  other  similar  conr-es.siuns,  has  said  ih'.is  to  (he  writer ;  i 
tucked  in  alo  e  for  the  Catholic  religion  with  my  mother's  milk. 

18 


208  LETTER  XXXII. 

in  an  hereditar}  revolt  against  the  church,  which  shines  foith 
cons})icuou6,  with  every  feature  of  truth  in  her  countenance, 
and  wanting  the  rare  grace  of  acknowledging  their  error,  at  the 
expense  of  temporal  advantages,  they  have  no  other  defence  for 
themselves  but  clamor  and  calumny,  no  resource  for  shrouding 
those  beauteous  features  of  the  church,  but  by  placing  before 
them  the  hideous  mask  of  misrepresentation  ! 

Before  I  close  this  letter,  I  cannot  help  expressing  an  earnest 
wish,  that  it  were  in  my  power  to  suggest  three  most  impoitanl 
considerations  to  all  and  every  one  of  the  theological  calumni. 
atcrs  in  question.  I  pass  over  their  injustice  and  cruelty  to- 
wards us  ;  though  this  bears  some  resemblance  with  the  bar- 
barity  of  Nero  towards  our  predecessors,  the  first  Christians  of 
Rome,  who  disguised  them  in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and  then 
hunted  them  to  death  with  dogs  ;  but  Christ  has  warned  us  as 
follows  :  "  It  is  enough  for  the  disciple  to  be  as  his  master  ;  if 
they  have  called  the  master  of  the  house  Beelzebub,  how  much 
more  them  of  his  household  ?"  In  fact,  we  know  that  those  our 
above-mentioned  predecessors  were  charged  with  worshipping 
the  head  of  an  ass,  of  killing  and  eating  children,  &c. 

The  first  observation  which  I  am  desirous  of  making  to  these 
controvertists  is,  that  their  charges  and  invectives  against  Catho- 
lics never  unsettle  the  faith  of  a  single  individual  amongst  us  ; 
much  less  do  they  cause  any  Catholic  to  quit  our  communion. 
This  we  are  sure  of,  because,  after  all  the  pains  and  expenses 
of  the  Protestant  societies  to  distribute  Dr.  Porteus's  Confuta- 
tion of  Papery^  and  other  tracts,  in  the  houses  and  cottages  of 
Catholics,  not  one  of  the  latter  ever  comes  to  us,  their  pastors, 
to  be  furnished  with  an  answer  to  the  accusations  contained  in 
them.  The  truth  is,  they  previously  know,  from  their  cate- 
chisms, the  falsehood  of  them.  Sometimes,  no  doubt,  a  disso- 
lute youth,  "  from  libertinism  of  principle  and  practice,"  as  one 
of  the  above-mentioned  lords  loudly  proclaimed  of  himself,  on 
his  death-bed  ;  and  sometimes  an  ambitious  or  avaricious  noble- 
man or  gentleman,  to  get  honor  or  wealth  ;  finally,  sometimes  a 
profligate  priest,  to  get  a  wife,  or  a  living,  forsakes  our  commu- 
nion ; — but,  I  may  challenge  Dr.  Porteus  to  produce  a  single 
proselyte  from  Popery  throughout  the  dioceses  of  Chester  and 
London,  who  has  been  gained  by  his  book  against  it  ;  and  I 
nay  say  the  same,  with  respect  to  the  Bishop  of  Durham's  no 
popery  charges  throughout  the  dioceses  of  Sarum  and  Durham. 

A  second  point  of  still  greater  importance  for  the  considera- 
ion  of  these  distinguished  preachers  and  writers  is,  that  their 
flagrant  misrepresentation  of  the  Catholic  religion,  is  constantly 
HH  occasion  of  the  conversion  of  several  of  their  own  most  upright 
n»cmbers  to  it.     Such  Christians,  when  thej-  fall  into  companv 


INVOCATION    OF    SAINTS.  207 

with  Catholics,  or  get  hold  of  their  books,  cannot  fail  of  inquir 
ing  whether  they  are  really  those  monsters  of  idolatry,  irreligion, 
and  immorality,  which  their  divines  have  represented  them  tn 
be ;  when,  discovering  how  much  they  have  been  deceived  .1 
these  respects  by  misrepresentation  ;  and,  in  short,  viewing  new 
the  fair  face  of  the  Catholic  Church^  instead  of  the  hideous  mask 
which  had  been  placed  before  it,  they  seldom  fail  to  becokiie 
enamored  of  it,  and,  in  case  religion  is  their  chief  concern,  to 
become  our  very  best  Catholics. 

The  most  important  point,  however,  of  all  others  for  the  con 
eideration  of  these  learned  theologues,  is  the  following :  "  We 
must  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,"  to  be  ex- 
aminfd  on  our  observance  of  that  commandment  among  the 
rest,  '  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  tJiy  neighbor." 
Supp,^ing  then  these  their  clamorous  charges  against  their 
Catholic  neighbors,  of  idolatry,  blasphemy,  perfidy,  and  thirst 
of  blood,  should  then  appear,  as  they  most  certainly  will  appear, 
to  be  calumnies  of  the  worst  sort  ;  what  will  it  avail  their  au- 
thors, that  these  have  answered  the  temporary  purpose  of  pre- 
venting the  emancipation  of  Catholics,  and  of  rousing  the  popu- 
lar hatred  and  fury  against  them  ?  Alas  !  what  will  it  avail 
them  ? — I  am,  dear  sir,  yours,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XXXin.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  &o 

ON  THE  INVOCATION  OF  SAINTS. 
Dear  sir — 

The  first,  and  most  heavy  charge,  which  Protestants  bring 
against  Catholics,  is  that  of  idolatry.  They  say,  that  the  Catho- 
lic Church  has  been  guilty  of  this  crime,  and  of  apostacy,  by 
sanctioning  the  invocation  of  saints,  and  the  worship  of  images 
and  pictures :  and  that  on  this  account  they  have  been  obliged 
to  abandon  her  communion,  in  obedience  to  "the  voice  from 
heaven,  saying, — Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  par- 
takers of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues."  Rev. 
xviii.  4.  Nevertheless  it  is  certain,  dear  sir,  that  Protestantism 
was  not  founded  on  this  ground,  either  in  Germany  or  England  ; 
for  Luther  warmly  defended  the  Catholic  doctrine  in  both  the 
aforesaid  particulars  ;  and  our  English  reformers,  pf  rticularly 
King  Edward's  uncle,  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  only  tojk  up  this 
pretext  of  idolatry,  as  the  most  popular,  in  order  to  revolutionize 
the  ancient  religion ;  a  measure  they  were  actively  carrying 
on,  from  motives  of  avarice  and  ambition.  The  same  reason, 
namely,  a  persuasioi  that  this  charge  of  idolatry  is  tesc  calou- 


208  LETIER    XXXIU. 

la  ted  to  inflame  'he  ignorant  against  the  Catholic  Church,  and  to 
furnish  a  pretext  for  deserting  her,  has  caused  Protestant  con- 
trovertists  to  keep  up  the  outcry  against  her  ever  since,  and  to 
vie  with  each  other  in  the  foulness  of  their  misrepresentation  of 
her  doctrine  h;  this  particular. 

To  speak  first  of  the  invocation  of  saints  :  Archbishop  Wake, 
(who  afterwards,  as  we  have  seen,  acknowledged  to  Dr.  Dupin, 
that  there  was  no  fundamental  difference  between  Jus  doctrine 
and  that  of  Catholics,)  in  his  popular  Commentary  or.  the 
Church  Catechism,  maintains,  that  "  The  Church  of  Rome  has 
other  gods  beside  the  Lord."*  Another  prelate,  whose  work 
nas  been  lately  republished  by  the  Bishop  of  Llandaff,  pro- 
nounces  of  Catholics,  that,  "  Instead  of  worshipping  Christ,  :hey 
have  substituted  the  doctrine  of  dcmons.'\  In  the  same  blas- 
phemous terms,  Mode,  and  a  hundred  other  Protestant  contro- 
vertists,  speak  of  our  communion  of  saints.  The  Bishop  of 
London,  among  other  such  calumnies,  charges  us  with  "bring- 
ing back  the  heathen  multitude  of  deities  into  Christianity  ;" 
that  we  "  recommend  ourselves  to  some  favorite  saint,  not  by  a 
religious  life,  but  by  flattering  addresses  and  costly  presents, 
and  often  depend  much  more  on  his  intercession,  than  on  oui 
blessed  Saviour's  ;"  and  that  "  being  secure  of  the  favor  of 
these  courtiers  of  heaven,  we  pay  but  little  regard  to  the  King 
of  it. "if  Such  is  the  misrepresentation  of  the  doctrine  and 
practice  of  Catholics  on  this  point,  which  the  first  ecclesiastical 
characters  in  the  nation  publish  ;  because,  in  fact,  their  cause 
has  not  a  leg  to  stand  on,  if  you  take  away  misrepresentation. 

Let  us  now  hear  what  is  the  genuine  doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
Church  on  this  article,  as  solemnly  defined  by  the  pope,  and 
near  300  prelates  of  different  nations,  at  the  Council  of  Trent, 
in  the  face  of  the  whole  world ;  it  is  simply  this,  that  "  the 
saints,  reigning  with  Christ,  offer  up  their  praytrs  to  God  for 
men  ;  that  it  is  good  and  useful  suppliantly  to  invoke  them,  and 
to  have  recourse  to  iheiv  prayers,  help,  and  assistance,  to  obtain 
favors  from  God,  through  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  who  is 
alone  our  Redeemer  and  Saviour. ^'^  Hence  the  Catechism  of 
the  Council  of  Trent,  published  in  virtue  of  its  decree, ||  by  or- 
der of  Pope  Pius  v.,  teaches  that  "  God  and  the  sal  ts  are  not 
to  be  prayed  to  in  the  same  manner ;  for  we  pray  to  God  that 
he  himself  ivould  give  us  good  things,  and  deliver  us  from  evil 
(flings  ;  but  we  beg  of  the  saints,  because  they  are  pleasing  t» 
God,  that  they  would  be  our  advocates,  and  obtain  from  God 

»  Sect. 2,  3.  t  E-.shop  Watson's  The-)!.  Tracts,  vol.  v.  p.  272. 

1  Brief  Confut.  pp.  23,  S.o,  §  Coi:.;il.  Tr-id  Sess.  25,  Je  Iiivoc 

I  Sess.  24,  de  Rcf.  c.  7 


imrOCATION   OF    SAINTS.  209 

what  we  stand  in  need  of."*  Our  first  English  catechism  foi 
the  instruction  of  chi'.dren  says :  "  We  are  to  honor  saints  and 
angels  as  God's  special  friends  and  servants  ;  but  not  with  the 
honor  which  belongs  to  God."  Finally,  The  Papist  Misrepre- 
sented and  Represented,  a  work  of  great  authority  among  Catho- 
lics, first  published  by  our  eminent  divine,  Gother,  and  repub- 
lished by  our  venerable  Bishop  Challoner,  pronounces  the  fol- 
lowing anathema  against  that  idolatrous  phantom  of  Catholicity, 
which  Protestant  controvertists  have  held  up  for  the  identical 
Catholic  Church  :  '•  Cursed  is  he  that  believes  the  saints  in 
heaven  to  be  his  redeemers,  that  prays  to  them  as  such,  or  thai 
gives  God's  honor  to  them,  or  to  any  creature  whatsoever. 
Amen." — "Cursed  is  every  goddess- worshipper,  that  believes 
the  blessed  Virgin  Mary  to  be  any  more  than  a  creature  ;  thai 
worships  her,  or  puts  his  trust  in  her  more  than  in  God  ;  thai 
believes  her  above  her  Son,  or  that  she  can  in  any  thing  com- 
mand him.     Amen."f 

You  see,  dear  sir,  how  widely  different  the  doctrine  of  Catho- 
lics, as  defined  by  our  church,  and  really  held  by  us,  is  from 
the  caricature  of  it  held  up  by  interested  preachers  and  contro- 
vertists, to  scare  and  inflame  an  ignorant  multitude.  So  far 
from  making  gods  and  goddesses  of  the  saints,  we  firmly  hold 
it  to  be  an  article  of  faith,  that,  as  they  have  no  virtue  or  ex- 
cellence, but  what  has  been  gratuitously  bestowed  upon  them 
by  God,  for  the  sake  of  his  incarnate  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  so  they 
can  procure  no  benefit  for  us  but  by  means  of  their  prayers  to 
the  Giver  of  all  good  gifts,  through  their  and  our  common  Sa- 
viour Jesus  Christ.  In  short,  they  do  nothing  for  us  poor  mor- 
tals, in  heaven,  but  what  they  did  while  they  were  here  on 
earth,  and  what  all  good  Christians  are  bound  to  do  for  each 
other  ;  namely,  to  help  us  by  their  prayers.  The  only  differ- 
ence is,  that  as  the  saints  in  heaven  are  free  from  every  stain 
of  sin  and  imperfection,  and  are  confirmed  in  grace  and  glory, 
so  their  prayers  are  far  more  efficacious  for  obtaining  what  they 
ask  for,  than  are  the  prayers  of  us  imperfect  and  sinful  mortals. 
Our  Protestant  brethren  will  not  deny  that  St.  Paul  was  in  the 
practice  of  soliciting  the  prayers  of  the  churches  to  which  he 
addressed  his  epistles,  Rom.  xv.  30,  &c. ;  that  the  Almighty 
himself  commanded  the  friends  of  Job  to  obtain  his  prayers  foi 
the  pardon  of  their  sins,  Job  xlii.  8: — and,  moreover  that  they 
themselves  are  accustomed  to  pray  publicly  for  one  another. 
Now  these  concessions,  together  with  the  authorized  exposition 
of  our  doctrine,  laid  down  above,  are  abundantly  sufficient  to 
refute  most  of  the  remaining  objections  of  Protestants  against 

*  Pars  IV   Quia  orandus.  t  Pap.  Mi  trep.  Ab.ndg.  p.  78 

18* 


210  LETTER    XXXIII. 

it.  In  vain,  for  example,  does  Dr.  Porteus  quote  the  text  of  St. 
Paul,  1  Tim  ii,  5,  There  is  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men^ 
the  man  Christ  Jesus  :  for  we  grant  that  Christ  alone  is  the  me- 
diator of  salvation.  But  if  he  argues  from  thence,  that  there  ia 
no  other  mediator  of  intercession,  he  would  condemn  the  conduct 
of  St.  Paul,  of  Job's  friends,  and  of  his  own  church.  In  vain 
does  he  take  advantage  of  the  ambiguous  meaning  of  the  word 
worship  in  Matt.  iv.  10 ;  because,  if  the  question  be  about  a 
divine  adoration,  we  restrain  this  as  strictly  to  God  as  he  can 
do ;  but  if  it  be  about  merely  honoring  the  saints,  we  cannot 
censure  tha:,  without  censuring  other  passages  of  Scripture,* 
and  condemning  the  bishop  himself,  who  expressly  says  ;  "The 
Baints  in  heaven  we  love  and  honor.-f  In  vain  does  he  quote 
Rev.  xix.  10,  where  the  angel  refused  to  let  St.  John  prostrate 
himself,  and  adore  him  ;  because,  if  the  mere  act  itself,  inde- 
pendently of  the  evangelist's  mistaking  him  for  the  Deity,  was  for- 
bidden, then  the  three  angels,  who  permitted  Abraham  to  how 
himself  to  the  ground  before  them,  were  guilty  of  a  crime,  Gen. 
xviii.  2,  as  was  that  other  angel,  before  whom  Joshua  fell  on  his 
face  and  worshipjjed.     Jos.  v.  14. 

The  charge  of  idolatry  against  Catholics,  for  merely  honoring 
those  ivhom  God  honors,  and  for  desiring  them  to  pray  to  God 
for  us,  is  too  extravagant  to  be  any  longer  published  by  Pro- 
testants  of  learning  and  character ;  accordingly  the  Bishop  of 
Durham  is  content  with  accusing  us  of  blasphemy,  on  the  latter 
part  of  the  charge.  What  he  says  is  this  :  "It  is  blasphemy, 
to  ascribe  to  angels  and  saints,  by  praying  to  them,  the  divine 
attribute  of  universal  presence.":]:  To  say  nothing  of  his  lord- 
ship's new  invented  blasphemy,  I  should  be  glad  to  ask  him, 
how  it  follows,  from  my  praying  to  an  angel  or  a  saint  in  any 
place,  where  I  may  be,  that  I  necessarily  believe  the  angel  or 
saint  to  be  in  that  place  ?  Was  Elisha  really  in  Syria  when 
he  saw  the  ambush  prepared  there  for  the  king  of  Israel  ?  2 
Kings  vi.  9.     Again  :  we  know  that  "  There  is  joy  before  the 

*  The  word  worship,  in  this  place,  is  used  for  supreme  divine  homage,  m 
appears  by  the  original  Greek  :  whereas  in  St.  Luke,  xiv.  10,  the  Lnglish 
translators  make  use  of  it  for  the  lowest  degree  of  respect.  Thou-  shalt  haot 
worship  in  the  presence  of  them  that  sit  at  meat  with  thee.  The  latter  is 
tfce  proper  meaning  of  the  word  worship  ;  as  appears  by  the  marriage  ser- 
vice—  IVith  my  body  I  thee  worship;  and  by  the  designation  of  the  lowest 
order  of  magistrates,  his  Worship,  Mr.  Alderman  N.  Nevertheless,  on  the 
v/ord  may  l)e  differently  interpreted,  Catholics  abstain  from  applying  it  to 
persons  or  things  inferior  to  God  :  making  use  of  the  words  honor  and  vene. 
ration  in  their  regard ;  words  which,  so  applied,  even  Bishop  Porteus  ap. 
proves  in  us.  Thus  it  appears,  that  the  heinous  charge  of  idolatry  brought 
■gdima  Catholics  fur  their  respect  towards  the  saints,  is  grounded  on  nothing 
but  tic  mistaken  mean  if  of  a  word.         t  P.  23.        X  Charge  1810,  p.  13 


INVOCATION    OF    SAINTS.  211 

a'.igels  jf  God  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,"  Luke  xv.  10. 
Now^  is  it  by  visual  rays,  or  undulating  sounds,  that  these  bless- 
ed spirits  in  heaven  know  what  passes  in  the  hearts  oi'  men 
upon  earth  ?  How  does  his  lordship  know,  that  one  part  ot 
the  saint's  felicity  may  not  cDnsist  in  contemplating  the  wonder- 
ful ways  of  God's  providence  with  all  his  creatures  here  on 
earth  ?  But,  without  recurring  to  this  supposition,  it  is  suffi- 
cient, for  dissipating  the  Bishop's  uncharitable  phantom  of  blas- 
phemy, and  Calvin's  profane  jest  about  the  lenghts  of  the  saints* 
»ars,  that  God  is  able  to  reveal  to  them  the  prayers  of  Christian* 
who  address  them  here  on  earth. — In  case  I  had  the  same  op- 
portunity of  conversing  with  this  prelate,  which  I  once  enjoyed, 
I  should  not  fail  to  make  the  following  observation  to  him :  My 
lord,  you  publicly  maintain,  that  the  act  of  praying  to  saints, 
ascribes  to  them  the  divine  attribute  of  universal  presence  ;  and 
this  you  call  blasphemy.  Now  it  appears,  by  the  articles  and 
injunctions  of  your  church,  that  you  believe  in  the  existence 
and  efficacy  of  "  sorceries,  enchantments,  and  witchcraft  invent- 
ed by  the  devil,  to  procure  his  counsel  or  help,"*  wherever  the 
conjuror  or  witch  may  chance  to  be  ;  do  you,  therefore,  ascribe 
the  divine  attribute  of  universal  presence  to  the  devil  ?  You  must 
assert  this,  or  you  must  withdraw  your  charge  of  blasphemy 
against  the  Catholics,  for  praying  to  the  saints. 

That  it  is  lawful  and  profitable  to  invoke  the  prayers  of  the 
angels,  is  plain  from  Jacob's  asking  and  obtaining  the  angel'g 
blessing,  with  whom  he  had  mystically  wrestled,  Gen.  xxxii. 
26,  and  from  his  invoking  his  own  angel  to  bless  Joseph's  sons, 
Gen.  xlvii.  16.  The  same  is  also  sufficiently  plain  with  re- 
spect to  the  saints,  from  the  Book  of  Revelations  ;  where  the 
four  and  twenty  elders  m  heaven  are  said  to  have  "  golden 
vials  full  of  odors,  which  are  the  prayers  of  the  saints."  Rev. 
V.  8.  The  church,  however,  derived  her  doctrine,  on  this  and 
other  points,  immediately  from  the  apostles,  before  any  part  of 
the  New  Testament  was  written.  The  tradition  was  so  ancient 
and  universal,  that  all  those  eastern  churches,  which  broke  off 
from  the  central  church  of  Rome,  a  gr  at  many  ages  before 
Protestantism  was  heard  of,  perfectly  agr»  e  with  us  in  honoring 
and  invoking  th.e  angels  and  saints.  I  have  said  that  the  pa. 
triach  of  Protestantism,  Martin  Luther,  did  not  find  any  thing 
idolatrous  in  the  doctrine  or  practice  of  the  church  with  respect 
to  the  saints.  So  far  from  this,  he  exclaims  :  "  Who  can  deny 
that  God  works  great  miracles  at  the  tombs  of  the  saints  ?  I, 
therefore,  with  the  whole  Catholic  Church,  hold  that  the  sahits 

•  Iivjuncti  ae,  A  D.  1559.  Bishop  Sparrow's  Collection,  p.  89.  Article, 
ibid,  p  180 


213  LETTER    XXXIII. 

are  to  be  honored  and  invocated  by  us.*'*  In  the  same  spirit 
he  recommends  this  devotion  to  dying  persons:  "Let  no  one 
omit  to  call  upon  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  angels  and  saints, 
that  they  may  intercede  with  God  for  them  at  the  instant. "f  I 
may  add  that  several  of  the  brightest  lights  of  the  established 
church,  such  as  Archbishop  Sheldon  and  the  Bishops  Bland ford4 
Gunning,§  Montague,  &c.,  have  altogether  abandoned  thecljarge 
of  idolatry  against  Catholics  on  this  head.  The  last  mentioned 
of  them  says,  "  I  own  that  Christ  is  not  wronged  in  his  media- 
tion. It  is  no  impiety  to  say,  as  they  (the  Catholics)  zb,  Holy 
Mary,  pray  for  me  ;  Holy  Peter,  pray  for  me  ;"||  whilst  the  can. 
did  Prebendary  of  Westminster  warns  his  brethren,  "  not  to 
lead  people  by  the  nose,  to  believe  they  can  prove  papists  to  be 
idolaters,  when  they  cannot. "IT 

In  conclusion,  dear  sir,  you  will  observe,  that  the  Council  of 
Trent  barely  teaches  that  it  is  good  and  profitable  to  invoke  the 
prayers  of  the  saints ;  hence  our  divines  infer,  that  there  is  no 
positive  law  of  the  church,  incumbent  on  all  her  children  to 
pray  to  the  saints.**  Nevertheless,  what  member  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church  militant  will  fail  to  communicate  with  his  brethren 
of  the  church  triumphant  ?  What  Catholic,  believing  in  the 
communion  of  saints,  and  that  "  the  saints  reigning  with  Christ 
pray  for  us,  and  that  it  is  good  and  profitable  for  us  to  invoke 
their  prayers,"  will  forego  this  advantage  ?  How  sublime  and 
consoling  !  how  animating  is  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  true 
Catholics,  compared  with  the  opinions  of  Protestants  !  We  hold 
daily  and  hourly  converse,  to  our  unspeakable  comfort  ai.d  ad- 
vantage with  the  angelic  choirs,  with  the  venerable  patriarchs 
and  prophets  of  ancient  times,  with  the  heroes  of  Christianity, 
the  blessed  apostles  and  martyrs,  and  with  the  bright  ornaments 
of  it  in  later  ages,  the  Bernards,  the  Xaviers,  the  Teresas,  and 
the  Saleses.  They  are  all  members  of  the  Catholic  Church!— 
Why  should  not  you  partake  of  this  advantage?  Your  soul 
you  complain,  dear  sir,  is  in  trouble  ;  you  lament  that  your 
prayers  to  God  are  not  heard  : — continue  to  pray  to  him  with 
all  the  fervor  of  your  soul  ;  but  why  not  engage  his  friends  and 
courtiers  to  add  the  weight  of  their  prayers  to  your  own  ?  Per- 
haps  his  Divine  Majesty  may  hear  the  prayers  of  the  Jobs  wheil 
he  will  not  listen  to  those  of  an  Eliphaz,  a  Bildad,  or  a  Zophar, 
Job.  xlii.  You  believe,  no  doubt,  that  you  have  a  guardian 
angel,  appointed  by  God  to  protect  you,  conformably  to  what 

*  In  Purg.  quoraind.  Artie  Tom.  i.  Germet.  Ep.  ad  Georg.  Spalai. 
t  Luth.  Frep.  ad  Mort.         t  See  Duchess  of  York's  Testimony,  in  Bruna 
W'ck's  50  Reasons.  §  Burnet's  Hist,  of  his  own  Times,  vol.  i.  p.  437 

d  Treat.  Invoc.of  .ijainis,  p.  118.         If  Thorndik-'s  Just.  Weights,  p   10 
**  Petavius,  Suarez,  Wallenburg,  Muratori,  Nat.  Alex. 


RELIGIOUS   MEMORIALS.  213 

Oirist  said  of  the  children  presented  to  him  :  "  Their  angels 
do  always  behold  the  fare  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 
Matt,  xviii.  10. — Address  yourself  to  this  blessed  spirit  with 
gratitude,  veneration,  and  confidence.  You  believe  also,  thai 
among  the  saints  of  God,  there  is  one  of  supereminent  purity 
and  sanctity,  pronounced  by  an  archangel  to  be  not  only  gra- 
cious, but  "  full  of  grace  ;"  the  chosen  instrument  of  God  in  the 
incarnation  of  his  Son,  and  the  intercessor  with  this  her  Son_  in 
obtaining  his  first  miracle,  that  of  turning  water  into  wine,  at 
a  time  when  his  "  time"  for  appearing  in  the  world  by  mi- 
laoles  v/as  not  yet  come.  John,  iii.  4.  "  It  is  im]^x)ssible,"  as 
one  of  the  fathers  says,  "  to  love  the  Son,  without  loving  the 
mother :" — beg  then  of  her,  with  affection  and  confidence,  to  in- 
tercede with  Jesus,  as  the  poor  Canaanites  did,  to  change  the 
tears  of  your  distress  into  the  wine  of  gladness,  by  affording 
you  the  light  and  grace  you  so  much  want.  You  cannot  refuse 
tc  ioin  with  me  in  the  angelic  salutation :  "  Hail  full  of  grace, 
our  Lord  is  with  thee;"*  nor  in  the  subsequent  address  of  the 
inspired  Elizabeth  :  "  Blessed  art  thou  among  women,  and 
blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy  womb,"  Luke,  i.  42.  Cast  aside,  then, 
I  beseech  you,  dear  sir,  prejudices  which  are  not  only  ground, 
less  but  also  hurtful,  and  devoutly  conclude  with  me,  in  the 
words  of  the  whole  Catholic  Church  upon  earth :  Holy  Mai'y, 
mother  of  God,  pray  for  us  sinners,  now  and  at  the  hour  of  our 
death.     Amen. — I  am,  &;c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XXXIV.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ.,  &c 

ON  RELIGIOUS  MEMORIALS. 
Dear  sir — 

Ir  the  Catholic  Church  has  been  so  grievously  injured  by  the 
•Tfiisrepresentationsof  her  doctrine  respecting  prayers  to  the  saints, 
she  has  been  still  more  grievously  injured  by  the  prevailing 
calumnies  against  the  respect  which  she  pays  to  the  memorials 
cf  Christ  and  his  saints  ;  namely,  to  crucifixes,  relics,  pious  pic- 
tures, and  images.  This  has  been  misrepresented,  from  almost 
li\e  first  eruption  of  Protestantism,-]-  as  rank  idolatry,  and  as  jus- 

*  Luke  i.  28.  The  Catholic  version  is  here  used  as  more  conformable  to 
the  Greek,  as  well  as  the  Vulgate,  than  the  Protestant,  w'lich  renders  the 
passage.  Hail  thou  who  art  highly  favored. 

t  Martin  Luther,  with  all  his  hatred  of  the  Catholic  Church,  found  no 
idolatry  in  her  doctrine  respecting  crosses  and  images  :  on  the  contrary,  he 
warmly  defended  it  against  Carlostadius  and  his  associates,  who  had  destroy- 
ed those  in  the  churches  of  Wittenberg. — Epist.  ad.  Gasp.  Guttal.  In  the 
title.f  iges  of  his  volumes,  published  by  Melancthon,  Luther  is  exi  ibited  oa 


214  LETTEB  XXXIV. 

tifying  the  necessity  of  a  reformation.  Tc  countenance  such 
misrepresentation  in  our  own  country  in  particular,  avaricious 
courtiers  and  grandees  seized  on  the  costly  shrines,  statues,  and 
other  ornaments  of  all  the  churches  and  chapels,  and  authorized 
the  demolition  or  defacing  of  all  other  religious  memorials,  of 
whatever  nature  or  materials,  not  only  in  places  of  worship,  but 
also  in  market-places,  and  even  in  private  houses.  In  suppoi't 
of  the  same  pious  fraud,  the  Holy  Scriptu;es  were  corrupted  in 
their  different  versions  and  editions,*  till  religious  Protestants 
themselves  became  disgusted  with  them,f  and  loudly  called  for 
a  new  translation.  This  was  accordingly  made,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  first  James'  reign.  In  short,  every  passage  in  the 
Bible,  and  every  argument  which  common  sense  su2!;gesta 
against  idolatry,  was  applied  to  the  decent  respect  which  Catho- 
lics show  to  the  memorials  of  Christianity. 

The  misrepresentation  in  question  still  continues  to  be  the 
chosen  topic  of  Protestant  controvertists,  for  inflaming  the  minds 
of  the  ignorant  against  their  Catholic  brethren.  Accordingly, 
there  is  hardly  a  lisping  infant,  who  has  not  been  taught  that 
the  Romanists  pray  to  images  ;  nor  is  there  a  secluded  peasant 
who  has  not  been  made  to  believe,  that  the  Papists  worship  wood- 
en gods.  The  Book  of  Homilies  repeatedly  affirms,  that  our 
images  of  Christ  and  his  saints  are  idols;  that  we  "pray  and 
ask  of  them  what  it  belongs  to  God  alone  to  give  ;"  and  that 
"  images  have  been  and  be  worshipped,  and  so,  idolatry  commit 
ted  to  them  by  infinite  multitudes,  to  the  great  offence  of  God'i« 

his  knees  before  a  crucifix.  Queen  Elizabeth  persisted  for  many  years  in  re. 
taining  a  crucifix  on  the  altar  of  her  chapel,  till  some  of  her  Puritan  courtiers 
engaged  Patch,  the  fool,  to  break  it :  '*  no  wiser  man,"  says  Dr.  Heylin, 
(Hist,  of  Reform,  p.  124,)  "  daring  to  undertake  such  a  service."  James  I. 
thus  reproached  the  Scotch  bishops,  when  they  objected  to  his  placing  pic- 
tures and  statues  in  his  chapel  at  Edinburgh  :  "  You  can  endure  lions  and 
dragons,  {the  supporters  of  the  royal  anns,)  and  devils,  (Queen  Elizabeth'? 
griffins,)  to  be  figured  in  your  churches,  but  will  not  allow  the  like  place  to 
patriarchs  and  apostles."     Spotswood's  History,  p.  530. 

*  See  in  the  present  English  Bible,  Colos.  iii.  5,  Covetousness^  which  is 
idolatry  :  this  in  the  Bibles  of  1562, 1577,  and  1579,  stood  thus  :  CovetousnesSy 
which  is  the  worshipping  of  images.  In  like  manner,  where  we  read,  a  covetous 
man  who  is  an  idolater  :  in  the  former  editions  we  read,  a  covetous  man  ivhich 
is  a  worshipper  of  idols.  Instead  of.  What  agreement  hath  the  temple  of  God 
tcith  idols  ?  2  Cor.  vi.  16,  it  used  to  stand :  How  agreeth  the  temple  of  God 
with  images  ?  Instead  of.  Little  children,  keep  yourselves  from  ido's,  1  John 
▼.  21,  it  stood  during  the  reigns  of  Edward  a?)d  Elizabeth  :  Babes,  keep  your 
selves  from  images.  There  were  several  other  manifest  corruptions  in  this 
as  well  as  in  other  points  in  the  ancient  Protestant  Bibles;  some  of  which 
remain  in  the  present  version. 

t  See  the  account  of  what  passed  on  this  subject,  at  the  Conference  of 
Hampton  Court,  in  Fuller  and  Collier's  Church  Histories,  r  ad  in  Neal's  Hif 
iory  of  he  Puritanb. 


RELIGIOUS    MEMORIALS.  215 

majestic,  and  danger  of  infinite  soules ;  that  idolatrie  can  not 
possibly  be  separated  from  images  set  up  in  churches,  and  that 
God's  horrible  wrath  and  our  most  dreadful  danger  cannot  pc 
avoided  without  the  destruction  and  utter  abolition  of  ail  such 
images  and  idols  out  of  the  church  and  temple  of  God.''*  Arch- 
bishop Seeker  teaches,  that  "  the  Church  of  Rome  has  othei 
gods  besides  the  Lord,"  and  that,  "  there  never  was  greater 
idolatry  among  heathens  in  the  business  of  image-worshipping 
than  in  the  Church  of  Rome."!  Bishop  Porteus,  though  he 
does  not  charge  us  with  idolatry  by  name,  yet  intimates  the 
same  thing,  where  he  applies  to  us  one  of  the  strongest  passages 
of  Scripture  against  idol-worship  :  "  They  that  make  them  are 
like  unto  them  ;  and  so  is  every  one  that  trusteth  in  them.  O 
Israel,  trust  thou  in  the  Lord."  Psalm  cxiii. 

Let  us  now  hear  what  the  Catholic  Church  herself  has  sol- 
emnly pronounced  on  the  present  subject,  in  her  General  Coun- 
cil of  Trent.  She  says  :  "  The  images  of  Christ,  of  the  Virgin- 
mother  of  God,  and  of  the  other  saints,  are  to  be  kept  and 
retained,  particularly  in  the  churches,  and  due  honor  and  vene- 
ration is  to  be  paid  them  :  not  ihnt  we  believe  there  is  any 
divinity  or  power  in  them,  for  which  we  respect  them,  or  that  any 
thing  is  to  be  asked  of  them,  or  that  trust  is  to  be  placed  in 
them,  as  the  heathens  of  old  trusted  in  their  idols. "J  In  con- 
formity with  this  doctrine  of  our  church,  the  following  question 
and  answer  are  seen  in  our  first  catechism,  for  the  instruction 
of  children  :  "  Question :  May  we  pray  to  relics  or  images  ? 
Answer  :  No  ;  by  no  means,  for  they  have  no  life  or  sense  to 
hear  or  help  us."  Finally,  that  work  of  the  able  Catholic  wri- 
ters, Gother  and  Chal loner,  which  I  quoted  above,  The  Papist 
Misrepresented  and  Represented,  contains  the  following  anathe- 
ma, in  which  I  am  confident  every  Catholic  existing  will  readily 
join  :  "  Cursed  is  he  that  commits  idolatry  ;  that  prays  to  images 
or  relics,  or  worships  them  for  God.     Amen." 

Dr.  Porteus  is  very  positive,  that  there  is  no  scriptural  war- 
rant for  retaining  and  venerating  these  exterior  memorials  ;  and 
he  maintains  that  no  other  memorial  ought  to  be  admitted  than 
the  Lord's  supper.     Does  he  remember  the  ark  of  the  covenant, 

•  Against  the  Peril  of  Idol.  p.  iii. — This  admonition  was  quickly  carried 
ihto  effect  throughout  England.  All  statues,  bas-relievos,  and  crosses,  were 
demolished  in  all  the  churches,  and  all  pictures  were  defaced  *  while  they 
continued  to  hold  their  places,  as  they  do  still,  in  the  irotestani  churches  of 
Germany.  At  length  common  sense  regained  its  rights,  even  in  this  coujitry. 
Accordingly  we  see  the  cross  exalted  at  the  top  of  its  principal  church,  (St. 
Paul's,)  which  is  also  ornamented  all  round  with  the  statues  of  saints;  mosi 
of  the  cathedrals  and  collegiate  churches  now  contain  picture?  and  some  ol 
fiiem,  as  for  example,  Westminster  Abbey,  carved  images. 

t  Comment  on  Ch.  Catecb.  sect.  24  t  Seas,  xxv 


216  LETTER    3LXXIV. 

made  by  the  command  of  Grod,  together  with  the  punishment  of 
those  who  profaned  it,  and  the  blessings  bestowed  on  those  who 
revered  it  ?  And  what  was  the  ark  of  the  covenant  after  all  ? 
A  chest  of  settim  wood,  containing  the  tables  of  the  law  and  two 
golden  pots  of  manna ;  the  whole  being  covered  over  by  two 
carved  images  of  cherubim  ;  in  short,  it  was  a  memorial  of 
(rod's  mercy  and  bounty  to  his  people.  But,  says  the  bishop, 
*•  The  Roman  Catholics  make  images  of  Christ  and  of  his  saints 
after  their  own  fancy  :  before  these  images,  and  even  that  of 
the  cross,  they  kneel  down  and  prostrate  themselves  ;  to  these 
they  lift  up  their  eyes,  and  in  that  posture  they  pray."*  Sup- 
posing  all  this  to  be  true  ;  has  the  bishop  never  read,  that  when 
the  Israelites  were  smitten  at  Ai,  "  Joshua  fell  to  the  earth  upon 
his  face,  before  the  ark  of  the  Lord,  ur.til  the  even-tide,  he  and 
the  elders  of  Israel ;  and  Joshua  said,  Alas,  O  Lord  God,"  <fec. 
Jos.  vii.  6.  Does  not  he  himself  oblige  those  who  frequent  the 
above-mentioned  memorial,  to  kneel  and  prostrate  themselves 
before  it,  at  which  time  it  is  to  be  supposed  they  lift  up  their 
eyes  to  the  sacrament  and  say  their  prayers  ?  Does  he  not  re- 
quire of  his  people,  that  "  when  the  name  of  JESUS  is  pro- 
nounced in  any  lesson,  &c.,  due  reverence  be  made  of  all  with 
lowliness  of  courtesie  ?"t  And  does  he  consider,  as  well-found- 
ed, the  outcry  of  idolatry  against  the  Established  Church,  on  this 
and  the  preceding  point,  raised  by  the  dissenters  ?  Again,  is 
not  his  lordship  in  the  habit  of  kneeling  to  his  majesty,  and  of 
bowing,  with  the  other  peers,  to  an  empty  chair  when  it  is  placed 
at  his  throne  ?  Does  he  not  often  reverently  kiss  the  material 
substance  of  printed  paper  and  leather,  I  mean  the  Bible,  be- 
cause it  relates  to,  and  represents  the  sacred  word  of  God  ? 
When  the  Bishop  of  London  shall  have  well  considered  these 
several  matters,  methiiiks  he  will  better  understand,  than  he  seems 
to  do  at  present,  the  nature  of  relative  honor ;  by  which  an  inferior 
respect  may  be  paid  to  the  sign,  for  the  sake  of  the  tning  signified, 
and  he  will  neither  directly  nor  indirectly  charge  the  Catho- 
lics with  idolatry  on  account  of  indifferent  ceremonies,  which 
take  their  nature  from  the  intention  of  those  who  use  them. 
During  the  dispute  about  pious  images,  which  took  place  in  the 
eighth  century,  St.  Stephen,  of  Auxence,  having  endeavored,  in 
vain,  to  make  his  persecutor,  the  Emperor  Copronimus,  conceive 
the  nature  of  relative  honor  and  dishonor  in  this  matter,  threw 
a  piece  of  money,  bearing  the  emperor's  figure,  on  the  ground, 
aid  treated  it  with  the  utmost  indignity  ;  when  the  latter  soon 
proved,  by  his  treatment  of  the  saint,  that  the  affront  regarded 
himself,  rather  than  the  piece  of  metal.J 

•  Confut.  p.  27.      t  Injunctions,  A.  D.  1559,  n.  52.  Canons,  1603,  n.  18 
Fleury's  Hist.  Ecc.  L.  xliii.  n.  41. 


RELIGIOUS   MEMORIALS.  217 

The  bishop  objects,  that  the  Catholics  "  make  pictures  of  God 
the  Father  under  the  likeness  of  a  venerable  old  man."  Cer- 
tain painters,  indeed,  have  represented  him  so,  as,  in  fact,  he* 
was  pleased  to  appear  so  to  some  of  the  prophets,  Isa.  vi.  1— 
Dan.  vii.  9 ;  but  the  Council  of  Trent  says  nothing  concerning 
that  representation  ;  which,  after  all,  is  not  so  common  as 
that  of  a  triangle  among  Protestants,  to  represent  the  Trinity. 
Thus  much,  however,  is  most  certain,  that  if  any  Christian 
were  obstinately  to  maintain,  that  the  Divine  nature  resembles 
the  human  form,  he  would  be  condemned  as  an  anthropomorphite 
heretic.  The  bishop  moreover  signifies,  what  most  other  Pro- 
testant controvertists  express  more  coarsely,  that,  to  screen  our 
idolatry,  we  have  suppressed  the  second  commandment  of  the 
Decalogue,  and  to  make  up  the  deficiency,  we  have  split  the 
tenth  commandment  into  two.  My  answer  is,  that  I  apprehend 
many  of  thes'  disputants  are  ignorant  enough  to  believe,  that 
the  division  of  the  commandments,  in  their  Common  Prayer 
Book,  was  copied,  if  not  from  the  identical  tables  of  Moses,  at 
least  from  his  original  text  of  the  Pentateuch  :  but  the  bishop, 
as  a  man  of  learning,  must  know,  that  in  the  original  Hebrew^ 
and  in  the  several  copies  and  versions  of  it,  during  some  thou, 
sands  of  years,  there  was  no  mark  of  separation  between  one 
commandment  and  another ;  so  that  we  have  no  rules  to  be 
guided  by,  in  making  the  distinction,  but  the  sense  of  the  con- 
text, and  the  authority  of  the  most  approved  fathers;*  both 
which  we  follow.  In  the  mean  time,  it  is  a  gross  calumny  to 
pretend,  that  we  suppress  any  part  of  the  Decalogue ;  for  the 
whole  of  it  appears  in  all  our  Bibles,  and  in  all  our  most  ap- 
proved catechisms. f  To  be  brief:  the  words.  Thou  shall  not 
make  to  thyself  any  graven  thing,  are  either  a  prohibition  of  all 
images,  and,  of  course,  those  round  the  bishop's  own  cathedral, 
that  of  St.  Paul  ;  of  those  likewise  that  are  seen  upon  all  exist- 
ing coins,  which  I  am  sure  he  will  not  agree  to  ;  or  else  it  is  a 
mere  prohibition  of  images  made  to  receive  divine  worship,  in 
which  we  perfectly  agree  with  him.  You  will  observe,  dear 
sir,  that,  among  religious  memorials,  I  intend  to  include  relics ; 
meaning  things  which  have,  some  way,  appertained  to,  and  been 
left  by,  personages  of  eminent  sanctity.  Indeed,  the  ancient 
fathers  generally  call  them  by  that  name.  Surely  Dr.  Porteus 
will  not  sayj  that  there  is  no  warrant  in  Scripture  for  honoring 
these,  when  he  recollects,  that  "  From  the  body  of  St.  Paul, 
were  brought  unto  the  sick  handkerchiefs  and  aprons,  and  the 
diseases  departed  from  them,"  Acts,  xix.  12  ;  and  that,  "  When 

*  St.  August.  Qusest.  in  Exod.  Clem.  Alex.  Strom.  1.  6.  Hieron.  Ps.  xxxii. 
t  Cate^h.  Roman  ad  Paroch.     The  folio  Catech.  of  Montpelicr.     Douaj 
Catech.     Abridgment  of  Christian  Doctrine. 

19 


218  LETTER    XXXIV. 

llie  dead  man  was  le:  down  and  touched  the  bones  of  Elisha,  he 
revived  and  stood  upon  his  feet."  2  Kings,  xiii.  21. 

But  to  make  an  end  of  the  present  discussion  ;  nothing  but 
the  pressing  want  of  a  strong  pretext  for  breaking  communion 
with  the  ancient  church,  could  have  put  the  revolters  upon  so 
extravagant  an  attempt,  as  that  of  confounding  the  inferior  and 
relative  honor  which  Catholics  pay  to  the  memorials  of  Christ 
p.nd  his  saints,  (an  honor  which  they  themselves  pay  to  the 
Bible-book,  to  the  name  of  JESUS,  and  even  to  the  king*s 
th;one,)  with  the  idolatry  of  the  Israelites  to  their  golden  calf, 
Exod.  xxxii.  4,  and  of  the  ancient  heathens  to  their  idols,  which 
tney  believed  to  be  inhabited  by  their  gods.  In  a  word,  the  end 
for  which  pious  pictures  and  images  are  made  and  retained  by 
Catholics,  is  the  same  for  which  pictures  and  images  are  made 
and  retained  by  mankind  in  general,  to  put  us  in  mind  of  the 
persons  and  things  they  represent. — They  are  not  primarily  in- 
tended for  the  purpose  of  being  venerated  ;  nevertheless,  as  they 
bear  a  certain  relation  with  holy  persons  and  things,  by  repre- 
senting them,  they  become  entitled  to  a  relative  or  secondary 
veneration,  in  the  manner  already  explained.  I  must  not  for- 
get  one  important  use  of  pious  pictures,  mentioned  by  the  holy 
fathers,  namely,  that  they  help  to  instruct  the  ignorant.*  Still, 
it  is  a  point  agreed  upon  among  Catholic  doctors  and  divines, 
that  the  memorials  of  religion  form  no  essential  part  of  it.f 
Hence  if  you  should  become  a  Catholic,  as  I  pray  God  you  may, 
I  shall  never  ask  you  if  you  have  a  pious  picture  or  relic,  or  so 
much  as  a  crucifix,  in  your  possession :  but  then,  I  trust,  aftei 
the  declarations  I  have  made,  that  you  will  not  account  me  an 
idolater,  should  you  see  such  things  in  my  oratory  or  study,  oi 
should  you  observe  how  tenacious  I  am  of  my  crucifix,  in  par- 
ticular. Your  faith  and  devotion  may  not  stand  in  need  of  such 
memorials;  but  mine,  alas!  do.  I  am  too  apt  to  forget  whai 
my  Saviour  has  done  and  suffered  for  me  ;  but  the  sight  of  hia 
representation  often  brings  this  to  my  memory,  and  affects  my 
best  sent'ments.  Hence  I  would  rather  part  with  most  of  the 
books  in  my  library,  than  with  the  figure  of  my  crucified  Lord. 

I  am,  &c. 

John  Milner. 

•  St.  Gregory  calls  pictures,  Idiotarum  lihri.     Epist.  L.  ix.  9. 

t  The  learned  Potavius  says,  "  We  must  lay  it  down  as  a  principle  tlut 
images  are  to  be  reckoned  among  the  adiaphora,  which  do  not  belong  to  the  sub. 
riance  of  religion,  and  which  the  church  may  retain  or  take  away,  as  she  bes 
jadges."  L.  xv.  de  Iiicar.  Hence  Dr.  Hawarden,  of  images,  p.  353,  teaches, 
with  Delphinus,  that,  if  in  any  place  there  is  danger  of  real  idolatry  or  super- 
stition from  pictures,  they  ought  to  be  removed  by  the  pastor ;  as  St.  Epipha, 
n'us  destroy  ?d  a  certain  pious  picture,  ai  d  Ezechias  destroyed  the  braxen 


OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED.  219 


LETTER  XXXA'.—TO  THE  REV   ROBERT  CLAYTON,  M  A 

OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

Reverend  sih  — 

I  LEARN  by  a  letter  from  our  worthy  friend,  Mr.  Brown,  as 
well  as  by  your  own,  that  I  am  J  consider  you,  and  not  him,  as 
the  person  charged  to  make  the  objections  which  are  to  be  made 
on  th^  part  of  the  Church  of  England  against  my  theological 
positions  and  arguments  in  future.  I  congratulate  the  society 
of  New  Cottage  on  the  acquisition  of  so  valuable  a  member  as 
Mr.  Clayton,  and  I  think  myself  fortunate  in  having  to  contend 
with  an  opponent  so  clear-haaded  and  candid,  as  his  letter  shows 
him  to  be. 

You  admit,  that  according  to  my  explanation,  which  is  no 
other  than  that  of  our  divines,  our  catechisms,  and  our  councils 
in  general,  we  are  not  guilty  of  idolatry  in  the  honor  we  pay  to 
saints  and  their  memorials,  and  that  the  dispute  between  your 
church  and  mine  upon  these  points,  is  a  dispute  about  words 
rather  than  about  things  :  as  Bishop  Bossuet  observes,  and  as 
several  candid  Protestants,  before  you,  have  confessed.  You 
and  Bishop  Porteus  agree  with  us,  that  "  the  saints  are  to  be 
loved  and  honored  :"  on  the  other  hand,  we  agree  with  you,  that 
it  would  be  idolatrous  to  pay  them  divine  worship,  or  to  pray  to 
their  memorials  in  any  shape  whatever.  Hence,  the  only  ques. 
tion  remaining  between  us  is  concerning  the  utility  of  desiring 
the  prayers  of  the  saints  ;  for  you  say,  it  is  useless,  because  yoa 
think  that  they  cannot  hear  us,  and  that,  therefore,  the  practice 
is  superstitious  :  whereas  I  have  vindicated  the  practice  itself, 
and  have  shown  that  the  utility  of  it  no  way  depends  on  the  cir- 
cumstance  of  the  blessed  spirits  immediately  hearing  the  ad. 
dresses  made  to  them. 

Still  you  complain  that  I  have  not  answered  all  the  bishop's 
objections  against  the  doctrine  and  practices  in  question.  My 
reply  is,  that  I  have  answered  the  chief  of  them  :  and  whereas 
they  are,  for  the  most  part,  of  ancient  date,  and  have  been  again 
and  again  solidly  refuted  by  our  divines,  I  shall  send  to  New 
Cottage,  together  with  this  letter,  a  work  of  one  of  them,  who, 
foi  depth  of  learning  and  strength  of  argument,  has  not  been 
surpassed  since  the  time  of  Bellarmin.*  There,  reverend  sir, 
you  will  find  all  that  you  inquire  after,  and  you  will  discover, 
in  particular,  that  the  worship  of  the  angels,  which  St.  Paul  con- 
demns in  his  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  chap.  ii.  18,  means,  that 

»  The  True  Church  of  Christ,  by  Edward  Hawarden,  D.D.  S.T.P.  The 
author  was  engaged  in  surcessfuj  contests  with  Dr.  Clark,  Bishop  Bull,  Mr 
Leslie,  and  other  eminent  Protestant  divines. 


220  LETTER    XXXV. 

of  the  fallen  or  wicked  angels,  whom  Christ  despoiled,  ver.  15, 
and  which  was  paid  to  them  by  Simon  the  Magician,  and  his 
followers,  as  the  makers  of  the  world.  As  to  the  doctrine  of 
Bellarmin  concerning  images,  it  is  plain  that  his  lordship  never 
consulted  the  author  himself,  but  only  his  misrepresenter,  Vi- 
tringa  :  otherwise  he  would  have  gathered  from  the  whole  of 
this  strict  theologian's  distinctions,  that  he  teaches  precisely  the 
contrary  to  that  which  he  is  represented  to  teach.* 

You  next  observe  that  I  have  said  nothing  concerning  the  ev- 
iTdAagant  forms  of  prayer,  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  other  saints, 
which  Dr.  Porteus  has  collected  from  Catholic  prayer-books, 
and  which,  you  think,  prove  that  we  attribute  an  absolute  and 
unbounded  power  to  those  heavenly  citizens.  I  am  aware,  rev- 
erend sir,  that  his  lordship,  as  well  as  another  bishop,^  who  is 
all  sweetness  of  temper,  except  when  Popery  is  mentioned  in 
his  hearing,  and  indeed  a  crowd  of  other  Protestant  writers,  has 
employed  himself  in  making  such  collections,  but  from  what 
sources,  for  the  greater  part,  I  am  ignorant.  If  I  we-re  to  charge 
his  faith,  or  the  faith  of  his  church,  with  all  the  conclusions  that 
could  logically  be  drawn  from  different  forms  of  prayer^  to  be 
met  with  in  the  books  of  her  most  distinguished  prelates  and 
divines,  or  from  the  Scriptures  themselves,  1  fancy  the  bishop 
would  strongly  protest  against  that  mode  of  reasoning.  If,  for 
example,  an  anthropomorphite  were  to  address  him  :  You  say, 
my  lord,  in  your  creed,  that  Christ  "  ascended  into  heaven,  and 
sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God,"  therefore  it  is  plain  you  be- 
lieve, with  me,  that  God  has  a  human  shape ;  or  if  a  Ca'vinist 
were  to  say  to  him  :  You  pray  to  God  that  he  "  would  net  lead 
you  into  temptation,"  therefore  you  acknowledge  that  it  is  God 
who  tempts  you  to  commit  sin :  in  either  of  these  cases  the 
bishop  would  insist  upon  explaining  the  texts  here  quoted  ;  he 
would  argue  on  the  nature  of  figures  of  speech,  especially  in 
the  language  of  poetry  and  devotion  ;  and  would  maintain,  that 
the  belief  of  his  church  is  not  to  be  collected  from  these,  but 
from  her  defined  articles.  Make  but  the  same  allowance  to 
Catholics,  and  all  this  phantom  of  verbal  idolatry  will  dissolve 
into  air. 

Lastly,  you  remind  me  of  the  bishop's  assertion,  that  "neither 
images  nor  pictures  were  allowed  in  churches  for  the  first  I  un- 
dred  years."  To  this  as&-»rtion  you  add  your  own  opinion,  that 
during  that  same  period,  ni,  'orayers  were  addressed  by  Chris- 
tians to  the  saints.  A  fit  of  oolivion  must  have  overtaken  Dr. 
Porteus,  when  he  wrote  what  you  have  quoted  from  nim,  as  he 

•  See  De  Irnag.  L.  ii.  c.  24. 

t  Ths  Bishop  of  Hereford,  Dr.  Huntingford,  who  has  squeezed  a  large 
*uarUty  of  this  irrelevant  matter  into  his  Examination  of  the  Catholic  Petition 


OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED  221 

oould  not  he  ignorant,  that  it  was  not  till  the  conversion  of  Con- 
stantino, in  the  fourth  century,  that  the  Christians  were  general, 
ly  allowed  to  build  churches  for  their  worship,  having  been  ob- 
liged, during  the  ages  of  persecution,  to  practise  it  in  subter- 
raneous catacombs,  or  other  obscure  recesses.  We  learn, 
Movvever,  from  Tertullian,  that  it  was  usual,  in  his  time,  to  re- 
present our  Saviour,  in  the  character  of  the  good  Shepherd^  on 
the  chalices  used  at  the  assemblies  of  the  Christians  :*  and  we 
are  informed  by  Eusebius,  the  father  of  church-history,  and  the 
friend  of  Constantine,  that  he  himself  had  seen  a  miraculoua 
image  of  our  Saviour  in  brass,  which  had  been  erected  by  the 
woman  who  was  cured  by  touching  the  hem  of  his  garment ; 
and  also  different  pictures  of  him,  and  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
which  had  been  preserved  since  their  time.j*  The  historian 
Zozomen  adds,  concerning  that  statue,  that  it  was  mutilated 
during  the  reign  of  Julian  the  Apostate,  and  that  the  Christians, 
nevertheless,  collected  the  pieces  of  it,  and  placed  it  in  their 
church. J  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  who  flourished  in  the  fourth 
century,  preaching  on  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Theodore,  describes 
his  relics  as  being  present  in  the  church  and  his  sufferings  aa 
being  painted  on  the  walls,  together  with  an  image  of  Christ,  aa 
if  surveying  them.§  It  is  needless  to  carry  the  history  of  pious 
ligures  and  paintings  down  to  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  at 
which  time  St.  Augustin  and  his  companions,  coming  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  our  pagan  ancestors,  "  carried  a  silver  cross  be- 
fore them  as  a  banner,  and  a  painted  picture  of  our  Saviour 
Christ. "II  The  above-mentioned  Tertullian  testifies,  that  at 
every  movement  and  in  every  employment,  the  primitive  Chj  is- 
tians  used  to  sign  their  foreheads  with  the  sign  of  the  cross  ;1 
and  Eusebius  and  St.  Chrysostom  fill  whole  pages  of  their  works 
with  testimonies  of  their  veneration  in  which  the  figure  of  the 
cross  was  anciently  held  ;  the  latter  expressly  says,  that  the 
cross  was  placed  on  the  altars**  of  the  churches.  The  whole 
history  of  the  martyrs,  from  St.  Ignatius  and  St.  Polycarp,  the 
disciples  of  the  apostles,  whose  relics,  after  their  execution,  were 
carried  away  by  the  Christians,  as  "  more  valuable  than  gold 
and  precious  stones,"f  f  down  to  the  latest  martyr,  incontestioly 
proves  the  veneration  which  the  church  has  s\er  entertained 
for  these  sacred  objects.  With  respect  to  your  own  opinion^ 
reverend  sir,  as  to  the  earliest  date  of  prayers  to  the  sain?  i,  I 
may  refer  you  to  the  writings  of  St.  Irenaeus  the  disciple  ov  St, 

»  Lib.  de  Pudicitia,  c.  10. 

t  Hist.  1.  vii.  c.  18  X  His.  Eccles.  1.  v.  c.  21. 

$  Oral,  in  Theod.  ||  Bede's  Eccles.  Hist.  1.  i.  c.  25. 

f  Deo.  Coron.  Milit.  c.  3.  **  In  Orat.  Quod.  Christus  sit  Dew 

tt  Euseb.  Hist.  1.  iv.  c.  15     Acta  Sincer.  apud  Ruinart. 

19* 


222  LETTER   XXXVI 

Poly  carp,  who  introduces  the  Blessed  Virgin  praying  for  Eve  ;* 
to  the  apology  of  his  contemporary  St.  Justin  the  martyr,  who 
says :  '.'  We  venerate  and  worship  the  angelic  host,  and  the 
spirits  of  the  prophets,  teaching  others  as  we  ourselves  have 
been  taught  ;f  and  to  the  light  of  the  fourth  century,  St.  Basil, 
who  expressly  refers  these  practices  to  the  apostles,  where  he 
says :  "  I  invoke  the  apostles,  prophets,  and  martyrs  to  pray 
for  me,  that  God  may  be  merciful  to  me,  and  forgive  me  my 
sins.  I  honor  and  reverence  their  images,  since  these  things 
have  been  ordained  by  tradition  from  the  apostles,  and  are  practis 
ed  in  all  our  churches. ^'j[.  You  will  agree  with  me,  that  I  need 
not  bring  down  lower  than  the  fourth  age  of  the  church,  her 
devotion  to  the  saints. — I  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

John  Milnbr. 


LETTER  XXXVL— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ., 

ON  TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 
Dear  sir — 

It  is  the  remark  of  the  prince  of  modern  controvertists.  Bishop 
Bossuet,  that  whereas  in  most  other  subjects  of  dispute  between 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  the  difference  is  less  than  it  seems  to 
be,  in  this  of  the  holy  eucharist  or  Lord's  supper,  it  is  greater 
than  it  appears. §  The  cause  of  this  is,  that  our  opponents 
misrepresent  our  doctrine  concerning  the  veneration  of  saints, 
pious  images,  indulgences,  purgatory,  and  other  articles,  in 
order  to  strengthen  their  arguments  against  us :  whereas  their 
language  approaches  nearer  to  our  doctrine  than  their  sentiments 
do  on  the  subject  of  the  eucharist,  because  our  doctrine  is  so 
strictly  conformable  to  the  words  of  Holy  Scripture.  This  is 
a  disingenuous  artifice  ;  but  I  have  to  describe  two  others  of  a 
still  more  fatal  tendency  ;  first,  with  respect  to  the  present  wel- 
fare of  the  Catholics,  who  are  the  subjects  of  them,  and  secondly, 
with  respect  to  the  future  welfare  of  the  Protestants,  who  delib- 
erately make  use  of  them. 

The  first  of  these  disingenuous  practices  consists  in  misrepre- 
senting Catholics  as  worshippers  of  bread  and  urine  in  the  sacra- 
ment,  and  therefore  as  idolaters,  at  the  same  time  that  our  ad- 
versaries  are  perfectly  aware  that  we  firmly  believe,  as  an  ar- 
ticle of  faith,  that  there  is  no  bread  and  wine,  but  Christ  alone, 
true  God,  as  well  as  man,  present  in  it.  Supposing,  for  a  mo- 
ment, that  we  are  mistaken  ir.  this  belief,  the  worst  we  could  be 

*  Contra  Haeies.  1.  v.  c.  19.  t  Apol.  2.  prope  Init. 

J  Epi.st.  205,  T.  iii.  edit.  Paris. 

9  Exposition  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church,  Sect.  XVI. 


TRANSUBSTANTIATION  228 

charged  ;viih  is  an  error,  in  supposing  Christ  to  be  where  he  ia 
not ;  and  nothing  but  uncharitable  calumny,  or  gross  inatten. 
tion,  could  accuse  us  of  the  heinous  crime  of  idolatry.  To  il- 
lustrate this  argument,  let  me  suppose,  that  being  charged  with 
a  loyal  address  to  the  sovereign,  you  presented  it,  b-'  mistake, 
to  one  of  his  courtiers,  or  even  to  an  inanimate  figure  of  him, 
'which,  for  some  reason  or  other,  had  been  dressed  up  in  royal 
robes,  and  placed  on  the  throne  ;  would  your  heart  reproach  you, 
or  would  any  sensible  person  reproach  you,  with  the  guilt  of 
treason  in  this  case?  Were  the  people  who  thought  in  their 
hearts  that  John  the  Baptist  was  the  Christ,  l^uke  iii.  15,  and 
who  probably  worshipped  him  as  such,  idolaters,  in  consequence 
of  their  error  ?  The  falsehood,  as  well  as  the  uncnarilableness, 
of  this  calumny  is  too  gross  to  escape  the  observation  of  any 
informed  and  reflecting  man  ;  yet,  in  order  to  keep  alive  their 
prejudices  against  us,  it  is  upheld  and  vociferated  to  the  ignorant 
crowd,  by  Bishop  Porteus*  and  the  Protestant  preachers  and 
writers  in  general  ;  while  it  is  perpetuated  by  the  Legislature, 
for  the  purpose  of  defeating  our  civil  olaims  !f  It  is  not  how- 
ever true,  that  all  Protestant  divines  have  laid  this  heavy  charge 
It  the  door  of  Catholics,  for  worshipping  Christ  in  the  sacrament ; 
as  all  those  eminent  prelates  in  the  reigns  of  Charles  I.  and  II. 
must  be  excepted,  who  generally  acquitted  us  of  the  charge  of 
idolatry,  and  more  especially  the  learned  Gunning,  Bishop  of 
Ely,  who  reprobated  the  above  signified  declaration,  when  it 
was  brought  into  the  house  of  lords,  protesting  that  his  con- 
science would  not  permit  him  to  make  it.:]:  The  candid  Thorn- 
dyke,  Prebendary  of  Westminster,  argues  thus  on  the  present 
subject :  "  Will  any  papist  acknowledge  that  he  honors  the  ele- 
ments of.  the  eucharist  for  God  ?  Will  common  sense  charga 
him  with  honoring  that  in  the  sacrament  which  he  does  not 
believe  to  be  there  ?"§  The  celebrated  Bishop  of  Down,  Dr, 
Jeremy  Taylor,  reasons  with  equal  fairness,  where  he  says, 
"  the  object  of  their  (the  Catholics')  adoration  in  the  sacrament 
is  the  only  true  and  eternal  God,  hypostatically  united  with  his 
holy  humanity,  whi^li  humanity  they  believe  actually  present 
under  the  veil  of  the  sacrament.     And  if  they  thought  him  not 

*  He  charges  Catholics  with  "  senseless  idolatry,"  and  with  "  worshipping 
the  creature  instead  of  the  Creator."     Confut.  P.  ii.  c.  1. 

t  The  declaration  against  popery,  by  which  Catholics  were  excluded  from 
the  houses  of  Parliament,  was  voted  by  them  during  that  time  of  national 
frenzy  and  disgrace,  when  they  equally  voted  the  reality  of  the  pretended 
popish  plot,  which  cost  the  Catholics  a  torrent  of  innocent  bloc  id,  and  v/hich 
was  hatched  by  the  unprincipled  Shaftesbury,  with  the  hi  Ip  of  Dr.  Tongue 
and  the  infamous  Oates,  to  prevent  the  succession  of  Jamej  II.  to  the  crown. 
Bee  Echard's  Hist.  North's  Exam. 

\  Burnei's  Hist.  Own  Times  §  Just  Weights  and  Measures,  c.  19. 


224  LETTER    XXXVI. 

present,  they  are  so  far  from  worshipping  the  bread,  that  they 
profess  it  idolatry  to  do  so.  This  is  demonstration  that  the  soul 
has  nothing  in  it  that  is  idolatrical ;  the  will  has  nothing  in  it, 
but  what  is  a  great  enemy  to  idolatry."* 

The  other  instance  of  disingenuity  and  injustice  on  the  part 
of  Protestant  divines  and  statesmen,  consists  in  their  overfook- 
ing  the  main  subject  in  debate,  namely,  whether  Christ  isor  isnai 
really  and  personally  present  in  the  sacrament ;  and  in  the  mean 
time  directing  all  the  force  of  their  declamation  and  ridicule, 
and  all  the  severity  of  the  law  to  a  point  of  inferior,  or  at  least 
secondary  consideration  ;  namely,  to  the  mode  in  which  he  is 
considered  by  one  particular  party  as  being  present.  It  is  well 
known  that  Catholics  believe,  that  when  Christ  took  the  bread 
and  gave  it  to  his  apostles,  saying,  THIS  IS  MY  BODY,  he 
changed  the  bread  into  his  body,  which  change  is  called  tra?i 
substantiation.  On  the  other  hand,  "  the  Lutherans,  after  their 
master,  hold  that  the  bread  and  the  real  body  of  Christ  are  uni- 
ted, and  both  truly  present  in  the  sacrament,  as  iron  and  fire  are 
united  in  a  red-hot  bar."f — This  sort  of  presence,  which  would 
be  not  less  miraculous  and  incomprehensible  than  transubstan- 
tiation,  is  called  consubstantiation ;  while  the  Calvinists  and 
Church  of  England  men  in  general  (though  many  of  the  bright- 
est luminaries  of  the  latter  have  approached  to  the  Catholic 
doctrine)  maintain  that  Christ  is  barely  present  in  figure,  and 
received  only  by  faith.  Now  all  the  alleged  absurdities,  in  a 
manner,  and  all  the  pretended  impiety  and  idolatry,  which  are 
attributed  to  transubstantiation,  equally  attach  to  consubstan. 
tiation  and  to  the  real  presence  professed  by  those  eminent  di- 
vines of  the  Established  Church.  Nevertheless,  what  controvr  r- 
sial  preacher  or  writer  ever  attacks  the  latter  opinions  ?  Wl^t 
kw  excludes  Lutherans  from  Parliament,  or  even  from  the 
throne  1  So  far  from  this,  a  chapel  royal  has  been  founded  and 
is  maintained  in  the  palace  itself,  for  the  propagation  of  their 
consubstantiation  and  the  participation  of  the  real  presence  !  In 
short,  you  may  say  with  Luther,  the  bread  is  the  body  of  Christ, 
or  with  Osiander,  the  bread  is  one  and  the  same  person  with  Christ, 
or  with  Bishop  Cosin,  that  "  Christ  is  prcbont  really  and  sub- 
Btantially  by  an  incomprehensible  mystery,"^  or  with  Dr.  Bal- 
guy,  that  there  is  no  mystery  at  all,  but  a  mere  "  federal  rile, 
barely  signifying  the  receiver's  acceptance  of  the  benefit  of  re- 
demption."§     In  short,  you  may  say  any  thing  yoti  please  con- 

»  Liberty  of  Prophesying,  Sect.  20. 

t  De  Capt.  Babyl.  Osiander,  whose  sister  Cranmer  married,  tanght  impcu 
nation,  or  an  hypos;atical  and  personal  union  of  the  bread  with  Christ's  body, 
in  consequence  of  which  a  person  might  truly  say,  This  bread  is  ChrisVi 
^dy.  X  Hist,  of  Transub.  p.  44.  §  Charge  vu. 


THE    REAL    PRESENCE.  225 

cemmg  the  eucharist  without  obloquy  or  inconvenience  to  y  )ur- 
self,  except  what  the  words  of  Christ,  this  is  my  body,  so  clear, 
ly  imply,  namely,  that  he  changes  the  bread  into  his  body.  In 
fact,  as  the  Bishop  of  Meaux  observes,  "  the  declarations  of 
Christ  operate  what  they  express;  when  he  speaks,  nature 
obeys,  and  he  does  what  he  says :  thus  he  cured  the  ruler's 
son,  by  saying  to  him,  Thy  son  liveth  ;  and  the  crooked  woman, 
by  saying.  Thou  an  loosed  from  thy  infirmity.^  The  prelate 
aJds,  for  our  further  observation,  that  Christ  did  not  say,  My 
hcdy  IS  here  ;  this  contains  my  body :  but,  this  is  my  body  ;  this 
is  my  blood.  Hence  Zuinglius,  Calvin,  Beza,  and  the  defenders 
of  the  figurative  sense  in  general,  all,  except  the  Protestants  of 
England,  have  expressly  confessed,  that  admitting  the  real  pre- 
sence, the  Catholic  doctrine  is  far  more  conformable  to  Scripture 
than  the  Lutheran.  I  shall  finish  this  letter  with  remarking, 
that  as  transubstantiation,  according  to  Bishop  Cosin,  was  the 
first  of  Christ's  miracles,  in  changing  water  into  wine  ;  so  it 
may  be  said  to  have  been  his  last,  during  his  mortal  course,  by 
cbanging  bread  and  wine  into  his  sacred  body  and  blood. 
I  am,  dear  sir,  yours,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XXXVn.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESa 

ON  THE  REAL  PRESENCE  OF  CHRIST  IN  THE 
BLESSED  SACRAMENT. 
Dear  sir — 

It  is  clear,  from  what  I  have  stated  in  my  last  letter  to  you, 
that  the  first  and  main  question  to  be  settled  between  Catholics 
and  Church  Protestants  is,  concerning  the  real  or  figiir alive  pre- 
senr3  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament.  This  being  determined,  it 
wil.  be  time  enough,  and,  in  my  opinion,  it  will  not  require  a 
long  time,  to  conclude  upon  the  manner  of  his  presence,  namely, 
'blether  by  consubstantiation  or  transubstantiation.  To  con. 
sider  the  authorized  exposition  or  catechism  of  the  Established 
Church,  it  might  appear  certain  that  she  herself  holds  the  real 
presence,  since  she  declares  that,  "  The  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
are  verily  and  indeed  taken  and  received  by  the  faithful  in  the 
*  Lord's  supper.'"  To  this  declaration  I  alluded,  in  the  first 
place,  where  I  complained  of  Protestants  disguising  their  real 
teneti,  by  adopting  language  of  a  different  meaning  from  their 
ftwn  sentinr^ents,  and  conformable  to  the  sentiments  of  Catholic  j, 

♦  Variat.  T.  ii   p.  34 


226  LBfTER   XXXVL'. 

in  consequence  of  such  being  the  language  of  the  sacred  text. 
In  fact,  it  is  certain  and  confessed  that  she  does  not,  after  all, 
believe  the  real  body  and  blood  to  be  in  the  supper,  but  mere 
bread  and  wine,  as  the  same  catechism  declares.  This  involves 
an  evident  contradiction ;  it  is  saying,  you  receive  taat  in  the  sa- 
crament, ichich  does  not  exist  in  the  sacrament  ;*  it  is  like  the 
speech  of  a  debtor,  who  should  say  to  his  creditor,  I  henhy  ver- 
ily and  indeed  pay  you  the  money  I  owe  you  ;  but  I  have  nti  verilif 
an  1  indeed  the  money  wherewith  to  pay  you. 

Nothing  proves  more  clearly  the  fallacy  of  the  Calvinists  and 
o^her  dissenters,  as  likewise  of  the  established  churchmen  in 
general,  who  profess  to  make  the  Scripture,  in  its  plain  and  lit- 
eral sense,  the  sole  rule  of  their  faith,  than  their  denial  of  the 
real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  which  is  so  manifestly 
and  emphatically  expressed  therein.  He  explained  and  prom- 
ised  this  divine  mystery  near  the  time  of  the  Passover,  (John, 
vi.  4,)  previous  to  his  institution  of  it.  He  then  multiplied  five 
loaves  and  two  fishes,  so  as  to  afford  a  superabundant  meal  to 
five  thousand  men,  besides  women  and  children,  (Matt.  xiv.  21,) 
which  was  an  evident  sign  of  the  future  multiplication  of  his 
own  person  on  the  several  altars  of  the  world  ;  after  which,  he 
took  occasion  to  speak  of  this  mystery,  by  saying :  "  I  am  the 
living  bread,  which  came  down  from  heaven.     If  any  man  eat 

*  Dryden,  in  his  Hind  and  Panther,  ridicules  this  inconsistency  as  follows  : 

"  The  literal  sense  is  hard  to  flesh  and  blood  ; 
But  nonsense  never  could  be  understood." 

Even  Dr.  Hey  calls  this  *'  an  unsteadiness  of  language  and  a  seeming  incon- 
bistency."     Lect.  vol.  iv.  p.  338, 

N.  B.  It  is  curious  to  trace,  in  the  Liturgy  of  the  Established  Church,  her  va- 
nations  on  this  most  important  point  of  Christ's  presence  in  the  sacrament. 
The  first  Communion  Service,  drawn  up  by  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  other  Pro- 
testant bishops  and  divines,  and  published  in  1548,  clearly  expresses  the  real 
presence,  and  that  "  the  whole  body  of  Christ  is  received  under  each  particle 
of  the  sacrament."     Burnet,  p.  ii.  B.  1. 

Afterwards,  when  the  Calvinist  party  prevailed,  the  29th  of  the  42  Articles 
of  religion,  drawn  up  by  the  same  prelates,  and  published  in  15.'52,  expressly 
denies  the  real  presence,  and  the  very  possibility  of  Christ's  being  in  the  eu. 
charist,  since  he  has  ascended  up  to  heaven.  Ten  years  afterwards,  Elisa. 
beth  being  on  the  throne,  who  patronized  the  real  presence,  (see  Heylin,  p. 
124,)  when  the  42  Articles  were  reduced  to  39,  this  declaration,  against  the 
reel  and  corporeal  presence  of  Christ,  was  left  out  of  the  Common  Prayer 
Book.,  for  the  purpose  of  comprehending  those  persons  who  believed  in  it,  as 
was  also  the  whole  of  the  former  rubric,  which  explained  that, "  by  kneeling 
at  the  sacrament  no  adoration  was  intended  to  any  corporeal  prerence  of 
Christ's  natural  flesh  and  blood."  Burnet,  P.  ii.  p.  392.  So  the  Liturgy 
Blood  for  just  ::ie  iiaiidred  years,  when  in  1662,  during  the  reign  of  Charles 
II.,  amf  ng  o  .e'  aUerations  of  the  Liturgy  which  then  took  place,  iJie  old 
rubric  agai-^  -jt  ine  real  presence  and  the  adoration  of  the  sacrament  waa  again 
lestorcd  as  it  stands  at  present  \ 


THE    REAL    PRESENCE.  227 

of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  for  ever :  and  the  bread  that  1  will 
give,  is  my  flesh,  for  the  life  of  the  world."  John,  vi.  51.  The 
sacred  text  goes  on  to  infornn  us  of  the  perplexity  of  the  Jews, 
from  their  understanding  Christ's  words  in  their  plain  and  natu- 
ral sense,  which  he,  so  far  from  removing  by  a  different  expla- 
nation, confirms  by  expressing  that  sense  in  other  terms  still 
more  emphatical.  "The  Jews  therefore  strove  amongst  them- 
seh  es,  saying.  How  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat  ?  Then 
Jesjis  said  unto  them,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  ye 
eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have 
no  life  in  you. — For  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is 
drink  indeed."  Verses  52,  53,  55.  Nor  was  it  the  multitude 
alone  who  took  offence  at  this  mystery  of  a  real  and  corporeal 
reception  of  Christ's  person,  so  energetically  and  repeatedly 
expressed  by  him,  but  also  several  of  his  own  beloved  disciples, 
whom  certainly  he  would  not  have  permitted  to  desert  him  to 
their  own  destruction,  if  he  could  have  removed  their  difficulty 
by  barely  telling  them,  that  they  were  only  to  receive  him  ly 
faith,  and  to  take  bread  and  wine  in  remembrance  of  him.  Yet 
this  merciful  Saviour  permitted  them  to  go  their  way,  and  con- 
tented himself  with  asking  the  apostles,  if  they  would  also  leave 
him  ?  They  were  as  incapable  of  comprehending  the  mystery 
as  the  others  were ;  but  they  were  assured  that  Christ  is  ever 
to  be  credited  upon  his  word,  and  accordingly  they  made  that 
generous  act  of  faith,  which  every  true  Christian  will  also  make, 
who  seriously  and  devoutly  considers  the  sacred  text  before  us. 
"  Many,  therefore,  of  his  disciples,  when  they  had  heard  this, 
said,  This  is  a  hard  saying  :  who  can  hear  it  ? — From  that  time 
many  of  his  disciples  went  back  and  walked  no  more  with  him. 
Then  Jesus  said  to  the  twelve.  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?  Then 
Simon  Peter  answered  him,  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou 
hast  the  words  of  eternal  life."     Verses  60,  66,  67,  68,  69. 

The  apostles,  thus  instructed  by  Christ's  express  and  repeated 
declaration,  as  to  the  nature  of  this  sacrament,  when  he  prom- 
ised it  to  them,  were  prepared  for  the  sublime  simplicity  of  his 
words  in  the  instituting  it.  For,  whilst  they  were  at  supper,  Jesu3 
took  bread  and  blessed  it,  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples^ 
and  said.  Take  ye  and  eat :  THIS  IS  MY  BODY.  And  taking 
ihe  chalice,  he  gave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to  them,  saying,  Drink  ye 
all  of  this;  FOR  THIS  IS  MY  BLOOD  OF  THE  NEW 
TESTAMENT,  WHICH  SHALL  BE  SHED  FOR  MANY 
UNTO  THE  REMISSION  OF  SINS.  Matt.  xxvi.  26,  27,  28. 
This  account  of  St.  Matthew  is  repeated  by  St.  Mark,  xiv.  22, 
23,  24,  and  nearly  word  for  word  by  St.  Luke,  xxii.  19,  20,  and 
b>  Sl.  Paul,  1  Cor.  xi.  23,  24,  25,  who  adds  :  "  Wherefore,  who- 
Doever  shali  eat  this  bread,  or  drink  the  chalice  of  the  Lord 


2*i8  LETTER    XXXVII. 

unworthily,  shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  LoiJ— 
and  eateth  and  drinketh  judgment  (the  Protestant  Bible  says, 
damnation)  to  himself."  1  Cor.  xi.  27,  29.  To  the  native  evi- 
dence of  these  texts  I  shall  add  but  two  words.  First,  supposing 
it  possible  that  Jesus  Christ  had  deceived  the  Jews  of  Caphar- 
naum,  and  even  his  disciples  and  his  very  apostles,  in  the  sol- 
emn asseverations  which  he,  six  times  over,  repeated  of  his  real 
and  corporeal  oresence  in  the  sacrament,  when  he  promised  1o 
institute  it,  can  any  one  believe  that  he  would  continue  the 
deception  on  his  dear  apostles,  in  the  very  act  of  instituting  it, 
and  when  he  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  them  ?  In  short,  when 
he  was  bequeathing  them  the  legacy  of  his  love  ?  In  the  next 
place,  what  propriety  is  there  in  St.  Paul's  heavy  denunciations 
of  profaning  Christ's  person,  and  of  damnation,  on  the  part  of 
unworthy  communicants,  if  they  partook  of  it  only  hy  faith  and 
in  figure?  For,  after  all,  the  paschal  lamb,  which  the  people 
of  God  had,  by  his  command,  every  year  eaten,  since  their  de- 
liverance out  of  Egypt,  and  which  the  apostles  themselves  eat, 
before  they  received  the  blessed  eucharist,  was,  as  a  mere  figure 
and  an  incitement  to  faith,  far  more  striking  than  eating  and 
drinking  bread  and  wine  are.  Hence  the  guilt  of  profaning  the 
paschal  lamb,  and  the  numerous  other  figures  of  Christ,  would 
not  be  less  heinous  than  profaning  the  sacrament,  if  he  were  not 
really  there. 

I  should  write  a  huge  folio  volume,  were  I  to  transcribe  all 
the  authorities  in  proof  of  the  real  presence  and  transubstantia. 
tion  which  may  be  collected  from  the  ancient  fathers,  councils, 
and  historians,  anterior  to  the  origin  of  these  doctrines,  assigned 
by  the  Bishops  of  London*  and  Lincoln.  The  latter,  who  speaks 
more  precisely  on  the  subject,  says:  "The  idea  of  Christ's 
bodily  presence  in  the  eucharist  was  first  started  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eighth  century.  In  the  twelfth  century,  the  actual 
change  of  the  bread  and  wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
by  the  consecration  of  the  priest,  was  pronounced  to  be  a  gospel 
truth.  The  first  writer  who  maintained  it,  was  Paschasius  Rad 
bert.  It  is  said  to  have  been  brought  into  England  by  Lan- 
franc."f  What  will  the  learned  men  of  Europe,  who  are  versed 
in  ecclesiastical  literature,  think  of  the  state  of  this  science  in 
England,  should  they  hear  that  such  positions  as  these  have 
been  published  by  one  of  its  most  celebrated  prelates'?  I  have 
assigned  the  cause  why  I  must  content  myself  with  a  few  of  the 
numberless  documents  which  present  themselves  to  me  in  refu- 
tation of  such  bold  assertions.  St.  Ignatius,  then,  an  apostolical 
Dishop  of  the   first  century,  describing  certain   contijm}.orary 

•  P«e  38.  t  Elm.  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  p.  380 


THE    REAL    PRESENCE.  22^ 

heretics,  says  :  "  They  do  not  admit  of  eucharfsts  and  oblations, 
because  they  do  not  believe  the  eucharist  to  be  the  flesh  of  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  suffered  for  our  sins."*  I  pass  over 
the  testimonies,  to  the  same  effect,  of  St.  Justin  Martyr,7  St. 
Ircnseus,:!:  St.  Cyprian, §  and  other  fathers  of  the  second  and 
third  centuries,  but  will  quote  the  following  words  from  Origen, 
because  the  prelate  appeals  to  his  authority  in  another  passage, 
which  is  nothing  at  all  to  the  purpose.  He  says,  then,  "  Manna 
was  formerly  given  as  a  figure ;  but  now,  the  flesh  and  blood 
of  the  Son  of  God  is  specifically  given,  and  is  real  food."||  I 
must  omit  the  clear  and  beautiful  testimonies  for  the  Catholic 
doctrine,  which  St.  Hilary,  St.  Basil,  Si.  John  Chrysostom,  St. 
Jerom,  St.  Augustin,  and  a  number  of  other  illustrious  doctors 
of  the  fourth  and  fifth  ages,  furnish  ;  bui  I  cannot  pass  over 
those  of  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  and  St.  Ambrose  of  Milan,  be- 
cause these,  occurring  in  catechetical  discourses  or  expositions 
of  the  Christian  doctrine  to  their  young  neophytes,  must  evidently 
be  understood  in  the  most  plain  and  literal  sense  they  can  bear. 
The  former  says:  "Since  Christ  himself  affirms  thus  of  the 
bread,  This  is  my  body,  who  is  so  daring  as  to  doubt  of  it  ?  Ana 
since  he  affirms,  T^is  is  my  hiood,  who  will  deny  that  it  is  his 
blood  ?  At  Cana  of  Galilee,  he,  by  an  act  of  his  will,  turned 
water  into  wine,  which  resembles  blood  ;  and  is  he  not  then  to 
be  credited  when  he  changes  wine  into  blood  ?  Therefore,  full 
of  certainty,  let  us  receive  the  hody  and  blood  of  Christ ;  for, 
under  the  form  of  bread,  is  given  to  thee  his  body,  and,  under 
the  form  of  wine,  his  blood. "IT  St.  Ambrose  thus  argues  with 
his  spiritual  children  :  "  Perhaps  you  will  say,  Why  do  you  tell 
me  that  I  recjive  the  body  of  Christ,  when  I  see  quite  another 
thing?  We  have  this  point,  therefore,  to  prove.  How  many 
examples  do  we  produce  to  show  you,  that  this  is  not  what  na- 
ture  made  it,  but  what  the  benediction  has  consecrated  it ;  and 
that  the  benediction  is  of  greater  force  than  nature-  because,  by 
the  benediction,  nature  itself  is  changed  !  Moses  cast  his  rod 
on  the  ground,  and  it  became  a  serpent ;  he  caMgh^  hold  of  the 
serpent's  tail,  and  it  recovered  the  nature  of  a  rod.  The  rivers 
of  Egypt,  &c. — Thou  hast  read  of  the  creation  of  tne  world  :  if 
Christ,  by  his  word,  was  able  to  make  something  oi>t  of  nothing, 
shall  he  not  be  thought  able  to  change  one  thing  into  another  ?"** 
But  I  have  quoted  enough  from  the  ancient  fathers  to  refute  the 
rash  assertions  of  the  two  modern  bishops. 

True  it  is,  that  Paschasius  Radbert,  an  abbot  o'*  the   ninth 
century,  writing  a  treatise  on  the  eucharist,  for  the  instruction 

*  Ep.  ad  Smyrn.  t  Apolog.  to  Emp.  Antonin.  ,  L.  v  c.  IL 

§  Ep.  54  ad  Cornel.       ||  II<»m.  7.  in  Levit.  T   C»ti>.lr  Mvstagog  4 

••  De  bis  qui  Myst.  Ini*.  c.  9 

20 


230  LETTER    XXXVII. 

of  his  noviojs,  miiintains  the  real  corporeal  presence  o!  Jhrist 
in  it ;  but  so  far  from  teaching  a  novelty,  he  professes  to  say 
nothing  but  what  all  the  world  believes  and  professes.* — The 
truth  of  this  appears  when  Berengarius,  in  the  eleventh  century, 
among  other  errors,  denied  the  real  presence ;  for  then  the 
whole  church  rose  up  against  him  ;  he  was  attacked  by  a  whole 
host  of  eminent  writers,  and  among  others  by  our  Archbishop 
Lan franc  ;  all  of  when-,  in  their  respective  works,  appeal  to 
the  belief  of  all  nations;  and  Berengarius  was  condemned  in  no 
less  than  eleven  councils.  I  have  elsewhere  shown  the  abso- 
lute  impossibility,  that  the  Christians  of  all  the  nations  in  the 
world  should  be  persuaded  into  a  belief  that  the  sacrament, 
which  they  were  in  the  habit  of  receiving,  was  the  living  Christy 
if  they  had  before  held  it  to  be  nothing  but  an  inanimate  memo- 
rial of  him  :  even  though,  by  another  impossibility,  all  the 
clergy  of  the  nations  were  to  combine  together  for  effecting  this. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  incontestible,  and  has  been  carried  to 
the  highest  degree  of  moral  evidence,-]-  that  all  the  Christians  of 
all  the  nations  of  the  world,  Greeks  as  well  as  Latins,  Africans 
as  well  as  Europeans,  except  Protestants  and  a  handful  of  Vau- 
dois  peasants,  have,  in  all  ages,  believed  and  still  believe  in  the 
real  presence  and  transubstantiation. 

I  am  now,  dear  sir,  about  to  produce  evidence  of  a  different 
nature,  I  mean  Protestant  evidence,  for  the  main  point  under 
consideration,  the  real  presence.  My  first  witness  is  no  other 
than  the  father  of  the  pretended  Reformation,  Martin  Luther 
himself.  He  tells  us  how  very  desirous  he  was,  and  how  much 
he  labored  in  his  mind  to  overthrow  this  doctrine,  because,  says 
he,  (observe  his  motive,)  "  I  clearly  saw  how  much  I  should 
thereby  injure  Popery  :  but  I  found  myself  caught,  without  any 
way  of  escaping  ;  for  the  text  of  the  gospel  was  too  plain  for 
this  purpose.":}:  Hence  he  continued,  till  his  death,  to  con- 
demn those  Protestants  who  denied  the  corporeal  presence;  em- 
ploying for  this  purpose,  sometimes  the  shafts  of  his  coarse  ridi- 
cule,§  and  sometimes  the  thunder  of  his  vehement  declamation 

*  "  Quod  totus  orbis  credit  et  confltetur."     See  Perpetuity  de  la  Foi. 

t  See  ir  particular  the  last-named  victorious  work,  which  has  proved  the 
conversion  of  many  Protestants,  and  among  the  rest  that  of  a  distinguished 
churchman  now  living. 

t  Epist.  ad.  argenten,  torn.  4,  fol.  502,  Ed.  Witten. 

§  In  one  place,  he  says,  that  "  The  devil  seems  to  have  mocked  those,  tc 
♦vliom  he  has  suggested  a  heresy  so  ridiculous  and  contrary  to  Scripture  Q» 
that  of  the  Zuinglians,"  who  explained  away  the  words  of  the  institution  ir 
a  figurative  sense.  He  elsewhere  compares  these  glosses  with  the  following 
translation  of  the  first  wards  of  Scripture ;  In  princiino  Deus  creavit  coelutn 
et  lerram  : — In  the  beginring  the  cuckoo  eat  the  sparroto  and  his  feather* 
Vefens.  Verb.  Dom. 


THE    REAL    PRESENCE.  231 

and  anathemas.*  To  speak  now  of  former  eminent  oishopa 
and  divines  of  the  Establishment  in  this  country ;  it  is  evidenJ. 
from  their  works,  that  many  of  them  believed  firmly  in  the 
real  presence,  such  as  the  Bishops  Andrews,  Bilson,  Morton, 
Liud,  Montague,  Sheldon,  Gunning,  Forbes,  Bramhall,  and 
Cosin,  to  whom  I  shall  add  the  justly  esteemed  Hook(  r  ;  the 
testimonies  of  whom,  for  the  real  presence,  are  as  explicit  as 
Cttholics  themselves  can  wish  them  to  be.  I  will  transcribe  in  the 
Aiargin  a  few  v/ords  from  each  of  the  three  last-named  auihors.f 
The  near,  or  rather  close  approach,  of  these  and  other  eminent 
Protestant  divines,  to  the  constant  doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  on  this  principal  subject  of  modern  controversy,  is  evi- 
dently to  be  ascribed  to  the  perspicuity  and  force  of  the  declara- 
tion of  Holy  Scripture  concerning  it.  As  to  the  holy  fathers,  they 
received  this,  with  her  other  doctrines,  from  the  apostles,  inde- 
pendently of  Scripture:  for,  before  even  St.  Matthew's  gospel 
was  promulgated,  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  was  celebrated,  and 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  distributed  to  the  faithful  through- 
out a  great  part  of  the  known  world. 

In  finishing  this  letter,  T  must  make  an  important  remark  on 
he  object  or  end  of  the  institution  of  the  blessed  sacrament. 
This,  our  divine  Master  tells  us,  was  to  communicate  a  new  and 
special  grace,  or  life,  as  he  calls  it,  to  us  his  disciples  of  the 
new  law.  "  The  bread  that  I  will  give  is  my  flesh,  for  the  life 
of  the  world.     As  the  living  Father  has  sent  me,  and  I  live  by 

*  On  one  occasion  he  calls  those  who  deny  the  real  and  corporeal  pres- 
ence, "  A  damned  sect,  lying  heretics,  bread-breakers,  wine-drinkers,  and 
80ul-destroyers."  In  Parv.  Catech.  On  other  occasions  he  says,  "  They  aie 
indeviiiied  and  superdevilized."  Finally  he  devotes  them  to  everlasting 
flames,  and  builds  liis  own  hopes  of  finding  mercy  at  the  tribunal  of  Christ 
on  his  iaving,  with  all  his  soul,  condemned  Carlostad,  Zuinglius,  and  otlier 
believrsin  the  symbolical  presence. 

+  I  ishop  Bramhall  writes  thus:  "  No  genuine  son  of  the  Church  (of  Eng 
land)  did  ever  deny  a  true,  real  presence. — Christ  said,  This  is  viy  body^ 
and  -yhat  he  said  we  steadfastly  believe.  He  said  neither  CON  nor  SUB 
nor  TRANS  :  therefore  we  place  these  among  the  opinions  of  schools,  not 
ar>>ng  articles  of  faith."  Answer  to  Militaire,  p.  74. — Bishop  Cosin  is  not 
l^w,  explicit  in  favor  of  the  Catholic  doctrine.  He  says,  "  It  is  a  monstr(>us 
exA-r  to  deny  that  Christ  is  to  be  adored  in  the  eucharist.  We  conjfcss  the 
ner,e«sity  of  a  supernatural  and  heavenly  change,  and  that  the  signs  cannot 
become  sacraments  but  by  the  infinite  power  of  God.  If  any  one  make  a 
bare  figure  of  the  sacrament,  we  ought  not  to  suffer  him  in  our  churches." 
Hisl.of  Transub.  Lastly,  the  profound  Hooker  expresses  himself  thus  :  "  I 
wish  men  would  give  themselves  more  to  meditate,  with  silence,  on  what  we 
have  in  the  sacrament,  and  less  to  dispute  of  the  manner  how.  Since  we  all 
Bgi-ie  that  Christ,  by  the  sacrament,  doth  really  and  truly  perform  in  us  his 
premise,  why  do  we  so  vainly  trouble  ourselves  with  so  fierce  contentions, 
whether  by  consubstantiation  or  else  by  transubstantiation  ?"  Eccles.  Polit 
B.  V.  67. 


232  LETTER   XXXVII. 

the  Father,  so  he  that  eateth  me,  the  same  shall  also  live  by  me. 
This  is  the  bread  that  came  down  from  heaven  :  not  as  your  fa- 
thers  did  eat  manna,  and  are  dead  ;  he  that  eateth  this  bread 
shall  live  for  ever."  John  vi.  52,  58,  59.  He  explains,  in  the 
same  passage,  the  particular  nature  of  this  spiritual  life,  and 
shows  in  what  it  consists,  namely,  in  an  intimate  union  with 
him;  where  he  says,  "He  that  eateth  my  flesh,  and  diinketh 
my  blood,  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him."  Ver.  57.  Now  the 
servants  of  God,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  had  striking 
figures  and  memorials  of  the  promised  Messiah,  the  participation 
of  which,  by  faith  and  devotion,  was,  in  a  limited  degree,  bene- 
ficial to  their  souls.  Such  were  the  tree  of  life,  the  various 
sacrifices  of  the  patriarchs,  and  those  of  the  Mosaic  law  ;  but 
more  particularly  the  paschal  lamb,  the  loaves  of  proposition, 
and  the  manna  of  which  Christ  here  speaks  :  still,  these  signs, 
in  their  very  institution,  were  so  many  promises,  on  the  part  of 
God,  that  he  would  bestow  upon  his  people  the  thing  signified 
by  them  ;  even  his  incarnate  Son,  who  is  at  once  our  victim  and 
our  food,  and  who  gives  spiritual  life  to  the  worthy  communi- 
cants, not  in  a  limited  measure,  but  indefinitely,  according  to 
each  one's  preparation  The  same  tender  love  which  made  him 
shroud  the  rays  of  his  Divinity,  and  take  upon  himself  theforin, 
of  a  servant,  and  the  likeness  of  man,  in  his  incarnation  ;  whicii 
made  him  become  as  a  worm  and  not  a  man,  the  reproach  of  men 
and  the  outcast  of  the  people,  in  his  immolation  on  Mount  Cal- 
vary, has  caused  him  to  descend  a  step  lower,  and  to  conceal  his 
human  nature  also,  under  the  veilsof  our  ordinary  nourishment, 
that  thus  we  may  be  able  to  salute  him  with  our  mouths,  and  lodge 
him  in  our  breasts,  in  order  that  we  may  thus,  each  one  of  us, 
abide  in  him,  and  he  ahide  in  us,  for  the  life  of  our  souls.  No 
wonder  that  Protestants,  who  are  strangers  to  these  heavenly 
truths,  and  who  are  still  immersed  in  the  clouds  of  types  and 
figures,  not  pretending  to  any  thing  more  in  their  sacrament, 
than  what  the  Jews  possessed  in  their  ordinances,  should  be 
comparatively  so  indifferent,  as  to  the  preparation  for  receiving 
it,  and  indeed,  as  to  the  reception  of  it  at  all!  No  wonder  tha/ 
many  ol  them,  and  amongst  the  rest,  Anthony  Ulric,  Duke  of 
Brunswick,*  should  have  reconciled  themselves  to  the  Catholi# 
Church,  chiefly  for  the  benefit  of  exchanging  the  figure  for  th« 
substance ;  the  bare  memorial  of  Christ,  for  his  adorable  bod^ 
and  blood. — I  am,  dear  sir,  &;c. 

John  Milner. 

•  Lettres  d'un  Docteur  Allemand  par  Scheffmacker,  vol.  i.  p.  393. 


OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED.  233 

LETTEU  XXX  nil.— TO  THE  REV   ROBERT  CLAYTON,  M.  A 

OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

Reverend  sir — 

Though  I  had  not  received  the  letter  with  which  you  have 
honored  me,  it  was  my  intention  to  write  to  Mr.  Brown,  by  way 
of  answering  Bishop  Porteus'f  objections  against  the  Catholic 
doctrine  of  the  blessed  eucharist.  As  you,  reverend  sir,  have 
in  some  manner  adopted  those  objections,  I  address  my  answer 
to  you. 

You  begin  with  the  bishop's  arguments  from  Scripture,  and 
say,  that  the  same  Divine  Personage  who  says.  Take,  eat,  this 
is  my  body,  elsewhere  calls  himself  a  door,  and  a  vine  :  hence  you 
argue,  that  as  the  two  latter  terms  are  metaphorical,  so  the  first 
is  also.  I  grant  that  Christ  makes  use  of  metaphors,  when  he 
calls  himself  a  door  and  a  vine  ;  but  then  he  explains  that  they 
are  metaphors,  by  saying,  "  I  am  the  door  of  the  sheep  :  by  me 
if  any  man  enter  he  shall  be  saved."  John,  x.  9.  And  again, 
"  I  am  the  vine,  you  the  branches ;  he  that  abideth  in  me,  and 
I  in  him,  beareth  much  fruit ;  for  without  me  you  can  do  no- 
thing." John,  XV.  5.  But,  in  the  institution  of  the  sacrament, 
though  he  was  then  making  his  last  will,  and  bequeathing  that 
legacy  to  his  children,  which,  in  his  promise  of  it,  he  had  as- 
sured them  should  be  meat  indeed  and  drink  indeed,  not  a  word 
falls  from  him  to  signify  that  his  legacy  is  not  to  be  understood 
in  the  plain  sense  of  the  terms  he  makes  use  of.  Hence  those 
incredulous  Christians  who  insist  on  allegorizing  the  texts  in 
question,  (professing  at  the  same  time  to  make  the  plain,  natural 
sense  of  Scripture  their  only  rule  of  faith,)  may  allegorize  every 
other  part  of  Holy  Writ  as  ridiculously  as  Luther  had  transla- 
ted the  first  words  of  Genesis,  and  thus  gain  no  certain  know- 
ledge from  any  part  of  it. 

His  lordship  adds,  that  the  apostles  did  not  understand  this 
institution  literally,  as  they  asked  no  questions,  nor  expressed 
any  surprise  concerning  it.  True,  they  did  not,  but  iien  they 
had  been  present  on  a  former  occasion,  at  a  scene  in  which  the 
Jews,  and  even  many  of  the  disciples,  expressed  great  surprise 
at  the  annunciation  of  this  mystery,  and  asked,  How  can  this 
man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat?  On  that  occasion,  we  know  that 
Christ  tried  the  faith  of  his  apostles  as  to  this  mystery,  when 
they  generously  answered,  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou 
hast  tJie  words  of  eternal  life. 

You  may  quote,  after  Dr.  Porteus,  Christ's  answer  to  the 
murmur  of  the  Jews  on  this  subject.  "  Doth  this  ofiend  you  ? 
If  then  you  s  lall  see  the  Son  of  man  ascend  up  where  he  was 

20* 


234  LETTER    XXXVIII. 

befojQ  ?  It  is  tl»e  spirit  that  quickeneth  ;  the  flesh  profiteth 
nothing.  The  words  that  I  have  spoken  to  you  are  spirit  and 
life."  John,  vi.  63,  64.  To  this  I  answer,  that  if  there  were 
an  apparent  contradiction  between  this  passage  and  those  others 
in  the  same  chapter,  in  which  Christ  so  expressly  affirms,  that 
his  Jlesh  IS  MEAT  INDEED,  and  his  blood  drink  indeed,  it  would 
only  prove  more  clearly  the  necessity  of  inquiring  into  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Catholic  Church  concerning  them.  But  there  is  nc 
8uch  appearance  of  contradiction :  on  the  contrary,  our  contro. 
Yeitists  draw  an  argument  from  the  first  part  of  this  passage  in 
favor  of  the  real  presence.*  The  utmost  that  can  he  deduced 
from  the  remaining  part  is,  that  Christ's  inanimate  flesh,  man- 
ducated,  like  that  of  animals,  according  to  the  gross  idea  of  the 
Jews,  would  not  confer  the  spiritual  life  which  he  speaks  of, 
though  some  of  the  fathers  understand  these  words,  not  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ,  but  of  our  unenlightened  natural  reason, 
in  contradistinction  to  inspired  faith  ;  in  which  sense  Christ  says 
to  St.  Peter,  "  Blessed  art  thou,  because  flesh  and  blood  has  not 
revealed  this  to  thee,  but  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  Matt, 
xvi.  17.  You  add  from  St.  Luke,  that  Christ  says  in  the  very 
institution,  "Do  this  in  memory  of  me."  Luke,  xxii.  19.  I 
answer,  that  neither  here  is  there  any  contradiction ;  for  the 
eucharist  is  both  a  memorial  of  Christ  and  the  real  presence 
of  Ciirist.  When  a  person  stands  visibly  before  us,  we  have 
no  need  of  any  sign  to  call  him  to  our  memory  ;  but  if  he  were 
present,  in  such  a  manner  to  be  concealed  from  all  our  senses, 
we  might,  without  a  memorial  of  him,  as  easily  forget  him,  as 
if  he  were  at  a  great  distance  from  us.  These  words  of  Christ, 
then,  which  we  always  repeat  at  the  consecration,  and  the  very 
sight  of  the  sacramental  species,  serve  for  this  purpose. 

The  objection,  however,  v/hich  you,  reverend  sir,  and  Bishop 
Porteus,  chiefly  insist  upon,  is  the  testimony  of  our  senses. 
You  both  say,  the  bread  and  wine  are  seen,  and  touched,  and 
iasted  in  our  sacrament,  the  same  as  in  yours.  "  If  we  cannot 
oelieve  our  senses,"  the  bishop  says,  "  we  can  believe  nothing." 
'J'his  was  a  good  popular  topic  for  Archbishop  Tillotson,  from 
whom  it  is  borrowed,  to  flourish  upon  in  the  pulpit ;  but  it  will 
!iot  stand  the  test  of  Christian  tneology — it  would  undermine  the 
incarnation  itself.  With  equal  reason  the  Jews  said  of  Christ, 
"Is  not  this  the  carpenter's  son?  Is  not  his  mother  called 
Mary?"  Matt.  xiii.  55.  Hence  they  concluded  he  was  not 
what  he  proclaimed  himself  to  be,  the  Son  of  God.  In  like 
manner  Joshua  thought  he  saw  a  man,  (Joshua,  v.  13,)  and  Ja- 
cob that  he  touched  one,  (Gen.  xxxii.  24,)  and  Abraham  that 

»  Veriid  de  la  Relig.  Cat.  prouv^e  par  I'Ecriture,  par  M.  Des  Mahi.  p.  161 


OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED.  235 

he  eat  with  three  men,  (Gen.  xviii.  8,)  when,  in  all  these  in 
stances,  there  were  no  real  men,  but  unbodied  spirits  present, 
the  different  senses  of  those  patriarchs  misleading  them.  Again^ 
were  not  the  eyes  of  the  disciples,  going  to  Emmaus,  he^d  so  that 
they  should  not  know  Jesus  ?  Luke,  xxiv.  16.  Did  not  the  same 
thing  happen  to  Mary  Magdalen  and  the  apostles  ?  John,  xx. 
1.5.  But,  independently  of  Scripture,  philosophy  and  experience 
show  that  there  is  no  essential  connection  between  our  sensations 
and  the  objects  which  occasion  them,  and  that,  in  fact,  each  of 
our  senses  frequently  deceive  us.  How  unreasonable  then  is 
it,  as  well  as  impious,  to  oppose  their  fallible  testimony  to  Goc  s 
infallible  word  !* 

But  the  bishop,  as  you  remind  me,  undertakes  to  show  tha 
there  are  absurdities  and  contradictions  in  the  doctrine  of  tran 
substantiation — he  ought  to  have  said  of  the  real  presence — foi 
every  one  of  his  alleged  contradictions  is  equally  found  in  the 
Lutheran  cmisubstaniiation,  in  the  belief  of  which  our  gracious 
queen  was  educated,  and  in  the  corporeal  presence,  held  by  so 
many  English  bishops.  He  accordingly  asks,  how  Christ's 
body  can  be  contracted  into  the  space  of  a  host  ?  How  it  can 
be  at  the  right  hand  of  his  Father  in  heaven,  and  upon  our 
altars  at  the  same  time,  &c.  ?  I  answer,  first,  with  an  ancient 
father,  that  if  we  insist  on  using  this  HOW  of  the  Jews,  with 
respect  to  the  mysteries  revealed  in  Scripture,  we  must  renounce 
our  faith  in  it  ?f  Secondly,  I  answer,  that  we  do  not  know  what 
constitutes  the  essence  of  matter  and  of  space.  I  say,  thirdly, 
that  Christ  transfigured  his  body  on  Mount  Thabor,  (Mark,  ix. 
1,)  bestowing  on  it  many  properties  of  a  spirit,  before  his  pas- 
sion ;  and  that  after  he  had  ascended  up  to  heaven,  he  appeared 
to  St.  Paul  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  (Acts,  ix.  17,)  and  stood 
hy  him  in  the  castle  of  Jerusalem.  Acts,  xxiii.  11.  Lastly,  1 
answer,  that  God  fills  all  space,  and  is  whole  and  entire  in  ev- 
ery particle  of  matter;  likewise,  that  my  own  soul  is  in  my 
right  hand  and  in  my  left,  whole  and  entire ;  that  the  bread 
and  wine,  which  I  eat  and  drink,  are  transubstantiated  into  my 
own  flesh  and  blood  ;  that  this  body  of  mine,  which  some  years 
ago  was  of  a  small  size,  has  now  increased  to  its  present  bulk ; 
that  soon  it  will  turn  into  dust,  or  perhaps  be  devoured  by  ani- 

•  For  example,  we  think  we  see  the  setting  sun  in  a  line  wuh  on; 
eyes  but  philosophy  demonstrates  that  a  large  portion  of  the  terraqueojts 
globe  is  interposed  between  them,  and  that  the  san  is  considerably  below  tha 
horizon.  As  we  trust  more  to  our  feeling  than  any  other  sense,  let  any  pe? 
son  cause  his  neighbor  to  shut  his  eyes,  and  then  crossing  the  two  first  fir% 
ger8  of  either  hand,  make  him  rub  a  pea,  or  any  other  round  substance  oa. 
Iween  them,  he  will  then  protest  that  he  feels  two  such  objects. 

t  Cyrii.  Alex.  1.  4,  in  Joan 


286  LETTER  xxxrx. 

mals  or  cannibals,  and  thus  become  part  of  their  substance  ;  aw^ 
that,  nevertheless,  God  will  restore  it  entire  at  the  last  day. 
Whoever  will  enter  into  these  considerations,  instead  of  employ- 
ing the  Jewish  HOW,  will  be  disposed,  with  St.  Augustin,  to 
"  admit  that  God  can  do  much  more  than  we  can  understand,'" 
and  to  cry  out  with  the  apostles,  respecting  this  mystery,  Lord 
to  whom  shall  we  go  ?     Tho^A  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life, 

I  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

John  Milnh«. 


LETTER  XXXIX.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESQ. 

COMMUNION  UNDER  ONE  KIND. 
Dear  sir — 

I  TRUST  you  have  not  forgotten  what  I  demonstrated  in  the 
first  part  of  our  correspondence,  that  the  Catholic  Church  was 
formed  and  instructed  in  its  divine  doctrine  and  rites,  and  espe- 
cially in  its  sacraments  and  sacrifice,  before  any  part  of  the  New 
Testament  was  published,  and  whole  centuries  before  the  entire 
New  Testament  was  collected  and  pronounced  by  her  to  be 
authentic  and  inspired.  Indeed,  Protestants  are  forced  to  have 
recourse  to  the  tradition  of  the  church  for  determining  a  great 
number  of  points,  which  are  left  doubtful  by  the  Sacred  Text, 
particularly  with  respect  to  the  two  sacraments  which  they  ac- 
knowledge. From  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  church  alone 
they  learn  that,  although  Christ,  our  pattern,  was  baptized  in  a 
river,  (Mark,  i.  9,)  and  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  was  led  by  St. 
Philip  into  the  water,  (Acts,  viii.  38,)  for  the  same  purpose,  the 
application  of  it,  by  infusion  or  aspersion,  is  valid  ;  and  that, 
although  Christ  says.  He  that  BELTEVETH  and  is  baptized 
shall  be  saved,  (Mark,  xvi.  16,)  infants  are  susceptible  of  the 
benefits  of  baptism,  who  are  incapable  of  making  an  act  of  faith. 
In  like  manner  respecting  the  eucharist,  it  is  from  the  doctrine 
and  practice  of  the  church  alone  Protestants  learn,  that,  tnough 
Christ  communicated  the  apostles,  at  an  evening  supper,  after 
they  had  feasted  on  a  lamb,  and  their  feet  had  been  washed,  a 
ceremony  which  he  appears  to  enjoin  on  that  occasion  with  the 
utmost  strictness,  (John,  xiii.  8,  15,)  none  of  these  rites  are  es- 
sential to  that  ordinance,  or  necessary  to  be  practised  at  present. 
With  what  pretension  to  consistency,  then,  can  they  reject  he? 
doctrme  and  practice  in  the  remaining  particulars  of  this  mys- 
terious  institution  ?  A  clear  exposition  of  the  institution  itself, 
and  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  church,  concerning  the 
controversy  in  question,  will  afford  the  best  answer  to  the  objec- 
ti'uis  raised  against  the  latter. 


COMMUNION    UNDER    ONE    KINI.  237 

It  is  true  that  our  blessed  Saviour  instituted  the  holy  eucha- 
rist,  under  two  kinds ;  but  it  must  be  observed,  that  he  then 
made  it  a  sacrifice  as  well  as  a  sacrament,  and  that  he  ordained 
priests,  namely  his  twelve  apostles,  (for  none  else  but  they  were 
present  on  the  occasion,)  to  consecrate  this  sacrament,  and  offer 
this  sacrifice.  Now,  for  the  latter  purpose,  namely,  a  sacrifice, 
it  was  requisite  that  the  victim  should  be  really  present,  and,  at 
least,  mystically  immolated  ;  which  was  then,  and  is  still  per- 
formed in  the  mass,  by  the  symbolical  disunion,  or  separate 
consecration  of  the  body  and  the  blood.  It  was  requisite,  also, 
for  the  completion  of  the  sacrifice,  that  the  priests,  who  had  im- 
molated the  victim,  by  mystically  separating  its  body  and  its 
blood,  should  consummate  it  in  both  these  kinds.  Hence  it  is 
seen,  that  the  command  of  Christ,  on  which  our  opponents  lay 
so  much  stress,  drink  ye  all  of  this,  regards  the  apostles,  as 
'priests,  and  not  the  laity,  as  communicants.*  True  it  is,  that 
when  Christ  promised  this  sacrament  to  the  faithful  in  general, 
he  promised,  in  express  terms,  both  his  body  and  his  blood,  John 
vi. :  but  this  does  not  imply  that  they  must,  therefore,  receive 
them  under  the  different  appearances  of  bread  and  wine.  For, 
as  the  Council  of  Trent  teaches,  he  who  said  :  "  Unless  you 
s'hall  eat  of  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  his  blood,  you 
shall  not  have  life  in  you,"  has  likewise  said,  "  If  any  one  shall 
eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  forever."  And  he  who  has  said 
"  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  life  ever- 
lasting," has  also  said,  "  The  bread  which  I  will  give  is  my 
flesh,  for  the  life  of  the  world."  And  lastly;  he  who  has  said, 
*'  He  who  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  abideth  in 
me,  and  I  in  him,"  has  nevertheless  said,  "  He  who  eateth  this 
bread  shall  live  for  ever."f 

The  truth  is,  dear  sir,  after  all  the  reproaches  of  the  Bishop 
of  Durham,  concerning  our  alleged  sacrilege,  in  suppressing 
half  a  sacrament,  and  the  general  complaint  of  Protestants,  of 
our  robbing  the  laity  of  the  cup  of  salvation,J  that  the  precious 
body  and  blood,  being  equally  and  entirely  present,  under  each 
species,  is  equally  and  eyitlrely  given  to  the  faithful,  whichever 
ihey  receive;  whereas  the  Calvinists  and  Anglicans  do  not  so 

*  The  acute  apologist  of  the  Quakers  has  observed,  how  inconclusively 
Protestants  argue  from  the  words  of  the  institution.  He  says,  '*  I  would 
gladly  know  how  from  the  words  they  can  be  certainly  resolved  that  these 
words  {Do  this)  must  be  understood  of  the  clergy  :  Take,  bless,  and  break 
this  bread,  and  give  it  to  others  ;  but  to  th  laity  only  :  Take  and  eat,  but  do 
not  bless,"  &c. — Barclay's  Apology,  Prop.  xiii.  p.  7.         t  Sess  xxi.  c.  1. 

X  Conformably  to  the  above  doctrine,  neither  cur  priest?  no:  our  bishop* 
receive  vinder  more  than  one  kind,  when  they  d  •  aot  offer  up  t'»e  holy  sac. 
Tifice 


238  LETTER    XXXIX. 

much  as  pretend  tc  conimunicate  either  the  real  \')dy  nr  the 
Mood,  but,  present  mere  types  or  memorials  of  then..  I  do  not 
deny,  that  in  their  mere  figurative  system,  there  may  be  some 
reason  for  receiving  the  liquid  as  well  as  the  solid  substance, 
since  the  former  may  appear  to  represent  more  aptly  the  blood, 
and  the  latter,  the  body ;  but  to  us,  Catholics,  who  possess  the 
reality  of  them  both,  their  species  or  outward  appearance  is  no 
more  than  a  matter  of  changeable  discipline. 

It  is  the  sentiment  of  the  great  lights  of  the  church,  St.  Chry- 
aostom.  St.  Augustin,  St.  Jerome,  &c.,  and  seems  clear  from  the 
text,  that  when  Christ,  on  the  day  of  his  resurrection,  took  hread, 
and  blessed  and  brake,  and  gave  it  to  Cleophas  and  the  other 
disciple,  whose  guest  he  was  at  Emmaus,  on  his  doing  which 
their  eyes  were  opened,  and  they  knew  him,  and  he  vanished  out  of 
their  sight,"  Luke  xxiv.  30,  31,  he  administered  the  holy  com- 
munion to  them  under  the  form  of  bread  alone.  In  like  man- 
ner, it  is  written  of  the  baptized  converts  of  Jerusalem,  that, 
they  were  persevering  in  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles,  and  in  the 
communication  of  the  BREAKING  OF  BREAD,  and  in 
prayer.  Acts  ii.  42  ;  and  of  the  religious  meeting  at  Troas;  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  we  were  assembled  to  BREAK 
BREAD,  Acts  xx.  7,  without  any  mention  of  the  other  species. 
These  passages  plainly  signi^fy  that  the  apostles  were  accus- 
tomed, sometimes,  at  least,  to  give  the  sacrament  under  one 
kind  alone,  though  Bisliop  Porteus  has  not  the  candor  to  confess 
it.  Another  more  important  passage  for  communion  under 
either  kind,  he  entirely  overlooks,  where  the  apostle  says . 
"  Whosoever  shall  eat  this  bread,  OR  drink  the  chalice  of  the 
Lord  unworthily,  shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  the  blood  of 
the  Lord."*  True  it  is,  that  in  the  English  Bible,  the  text  is 
here  corrupted,  the  conjunctive  AND  being  put  for  the  disjunc- 

*  n/v>7,  or  drink,  1  Cor.  xi.  27.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Grier,  who  has  attempted 
to  vindicate  the  purity  of  the  English  Protestant  Bible,  has  nothing  else  to 
Bay  for  this  alteration  of  St.  Paul's  epistle,  than  that  in  what  they  falsely 
call  "  the  parallel  text  of  Luke  and  Matthew,"  the  conjunctive  and  occurs  ! 
Grier's  Answer  to  Ward's  Errata,  p.  13. — I  may  here  notice  the  horid  and 
notorious  misrepresentation  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  concerning  the  eucha. 
rist,  of  which  two  living  dignitaries  are  guilty  in  their  publications.  The 
Bishop  of  Lincoln  says,  "  Papists  contend  that  the  mere  receiving  of  the 
Lord's  supper  merits  the  remission  of  sin  ex  opere  operato,  as  it  were  me. 
chanically,  whatever  may  be  the  character  or  disposition  of  the  communi 
cants."  Elem.  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  p.  491.  Dr.  Hey  repeats  the  charge  in 
nearly  the  same  words.  Lectures,  vol.  iv.  p.  355.  What  Catholic  will  not 
.ift  up  his  hands  in  amazement  at  the  grossness  of  this  calumny,  knowing,  as 
he  does,  from  his  catechism  and  all  his  books,  what  pirity  of  soul,  and  how 
much  greater  preparation,  is  required  for  the  reception  of  our  sacTamtnt,  tb«in 
Protestants  require  for  receiving  theirs?  See  Concil.  Trid,  Ses.  xiii.  c.  7 
^t.  Rom.  Douay  Catcrh.,  &c. 


t•OMMUNIO^     J       ER    ONE    KIND.  239 

livre  OR,  contrary  to  the  original  Greek,  as  well  as  to  the  Latin 
Vulgate,  to  the  version  of  Beza,  &c.;  but  as  his  lordship  could 
not  be  ignorant  of  this  corruption,  and  the  importance  of  the 
genuine  text,  it  is  inexcusable  in  him  to  have  passed  it  over 
unnoticed. 

The  whole  series  of  ecclesiastical  history  proves,  that  the 
Catholic  Church,  from  the  time  of  the  apostles  down  to  the  pre- 
sent, ever  firmly  believing  that  the  whole  body,  blood,  soul  ar.d 
alvlnity  of  Jesus  Christ,  equally  subsist  under  each  of  the  spe- 
cies or  appearances  of  bread  and  wine,  regarded  it  as  a  mere 
matter  of  discipline,  which  of  them  was  to  be  received  in  tne 
holy  sacrament.  It  appears  from  Tertullian,  in  the  second 
century,*  from  St.  Dennis  of  Alexandria, f  and  St.  Cyprian,:): 
in  the  third;  from  St.  Basil§  and  St.  Chrysostom,  in  the  fourth, 
(fee. II  that  the  blessed  sacrament,  under  the  form  of  bread, 
was  preserved  in  the  oratories  and  houses  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, for  private  communion,  and  for  the  viaticum  in  danger  of 
death.  There  are  instances,  also,  of  its  being  carried  on  the 
breast,  at  sea,  in  the  orarium  or  neckcloth. IT  On  the  other 
hand,  as  it  was  the  custom  to  give  the  blessed  sacrament  to 
baptized  children,  it  was  administered  to  those  who  were  quite 
infants,  by  a  drop  out  of  the  chalice.**  On  the  same  principle, 
it  being  discovered,  in  the  fifth  century,  that  certain  Manichsean 
heretics,  who  had  come  to  Rome  from  Africa,  objected  to  the 
sacramental  cup,  from  an  erroneous  and  wicked  opinion,  Pope 
Leo  ordered  them  to  be  excluded  from  the  communion  en- 
tirely ;ff  and  Pope  Gelasius  required  all  his  flock  to  receive 
under  both  kinds. J:):  It  appears  that,  in  the  twelfth  century, 
only  the  officiating  priest  and  infants  received  under  the  form 
of  wine ;  which  discipline  was  confirmed  at  the  beginning  of 
the  fifteenth  century  by  the  council  of  Constance, §§  on  account 
of  the  profanations,  and  other  evils,  resulting  from  the  genera! 

*  Ad  Uxor.  1.  ii.        t  Apud  Euseb.  1.  iv.  c.  44.        t  De  Lapsisu 

§  Epist.  ad  Caesar.  ||  Apud  Soz.  1.  viii.  c.  5. 

IT  St.  .\mbrose,  in  obit.  Frat. — It  appears,  also,  that  St.  Birinus,  the  apos 
tie  of  th?  West  Saxons,  brought  the  blessed  sacrament  with  him  into  this 
i8;and  in  an  O.'-arium.  Gul.  Malm.  Vit.  Pontif.  Florent.  Wigorn,  Higden,  &c. 

**  St  Cypr.  de  Laps.  tt  Sermo.  iv.  de  Quadrag. 

tt  Decret.  Cooperimus  Dist.  iii. 

^f}  Dr.  Porteus,  Dr.  Coomber,  Kemnitius,  &c.  accuse  this  council  of  de- 
creeing, that  ^^notwithstanding"  (for  so  they  express  it)  "  our  Saviour  min- 
istered  in  both  kinds,  one  only  shall,  in  future,  be  administered  to  the  laity  :'• 
as  if  the  council  opposed  its  authority  to  that  of  Christ ;  whereas  it  barely 
defines,  that  some  circumstances  of  the  institution  (namely,  that  it  took 
place  after  supper^  that  the  apostles  received  without  being  fasting,  and 
that  both  species  were  consecrated)  are  not  (obligatory  on  a'l  Christians.  Set 
Ca>i.  liU. 


240  LETTER    XXXIX. 

reception  of  it.  in  that  form.  Soon  after  this,  the  more  orderly 
sect  of  the  Hussites,  namely  the  Calixtins,  professing  their  obe- 
dience to  the  church  in  other  respects,  and  petitioning  the  Coun- 
cil of  Basil  to  be  indulged  in  the  use  of  the  chalice  ;  this  was 
granted  them.*  In  like  manner,  Pope  Pius  IV.,  at  the  request 
of  the  Emperor  Ferdinand,  authorized  several  bishops  of  Ger- 
many to  allow  the  use  of  the  cup  to  those  persons  of  their  re- 
B*)ective  dioceses,  who  desired  it.f  The  French  kings,  sinco 
the  reign  of  Philip,  have  had  the  privilege  of  receiving,  under 
both  kinas,  at  their  coronation  and  at  their  death. :j:  The  offi. 
ciating  deacon  and  subdeacon  of  St.  Dennis,  and  all  the  monks 
®f  the  order  of  Cluni,  who  serve  the  altar,  enjoy  the  same.§ 

From  the  above  statement.  Bishop  Porteus  will  learn,  if  not 
that  the  manner  of  receiving  the  sacrament  under  one  or  the 
other  kind,  or  under  both  kinds,  is  a  mei'e  matter  of  variable 
discipline,  at  least  that  the  doctrine  and  the  practice  of  the 
Catholic  Church  are  consistent  with  each  other.  I  am  now 
going  to  produce  evidence  of  another  kind,  which,  after  all  his, 
and  the  Bishop  of  Durham's  anathemas  against  us,  on  account 
of  this  doctrine  and  discipline,  will  demonstrate,  that,  conform- 
ably with  the  declarations  of  the  three  principal  denominations 
of  Protestants,  either  the  point  at  issue  is  a  mere  matter  of  disci- 
vline,  or  else,  that  they  are  utterly  inconsistent  with  themselves. 

To  begin  with  Luther :  he  reproaches  his  disciple  Carlostad, 
who  in  his  absence  had  introduced  some  new  religious  changes 
at  Wittenberg,  with  having  "  placed  Christianity  in  things  of  no 
account,  such  as  '  communicating  under  both  kinds,'  "  &c.||  On 
another  occasion  he  writes:  "If  a  council  did  ordain  or  permit 
both  kinds,  in  spite  of  the  council,  we  would  take  but  one,  or  take 
neither,  or  curse  those  who  should  take  both. "IT  Secondly,  the 
Calvinists  of  France,  in  their  synod  at  Poictiers,  in  1560,  de- 
creed thus  :  •'  The  bread  of  our  Lord's  supper  ought  to  be  ad- 
ministered to  those  who  cannot  drink  wine,  on  their  making  a 
protestation  thnt  they  do  not  refrain  from  contempt."**  Lastly, 
by  separate  acts  of  that  Parliament,  and  that  king  who  estab- 
lished the  Protestant  religion  in  England,  and,  by  name,  com- 
munion in  both  kinds,  it  is  provided  that  the  latter  should  only 
be  commonly  so  delivered  and  ministered  ;  and  an  exception  is 
made  incase  "ne^je^w'^y did  otherwise  require. "ff — Now, I  need 
not  observe,  that,  if  the  use  of  the  cup  were  by  the  appointment 

*  Sess.  ii.         t  Mem.  Granv.  t.  xiii.  Odorhainal.  %  Annal.  Pagi. 

^  Nat.  Alex.  t.  i.  p.  430.  ||  Epist.  ad  Gasp.  Gustol. 

^  Form.  Miss.  t.  ii.  pp.  384,  386.     **  On  the  Lord's  supper,  c.  iii.  p.  7. 
1*  Burnet's  Hist,  of  Reform.  Part  ii.  p.  41.     Heylin's  Hist,  of  Reform,  p 
58.     For  the  proclamation,  see  Bishop  Sparrow's  Collection,  p\  17. 


SACRIFICE    OF    THE    NEW    LAW.  24* 

tf  Christ,  an  essential  part  of  the  sacrament,  no  necessity  can 
e^er  be  pleaded  in  bar  of  that  appointment;  and  men  might  as 
well  pretend  to  celebrate  the  eucharist  without  bread  as  with- 
out wine,*  or  to  confer  the  sacrament  of  baptism  without  water. 
The  dilemma  is  inevitable.  Either  the  ministration  of  the 
pacrament,  under  one  or  under  both  kinds  is  a  matter  of  chang©- 
Rble  discipline,  or  each  of  the  three  principal  denominations  cf 
Protestants  has  contradicted  itself.  I  should  be  glad  to  know 
which  part  of  the  alternative  his  lordship  may  choose. 

I  am,  yours,  &c. 

John  JjJ«|^G  LiB*^4^ 

LETTER  XL.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  ESqJm.    ^Of  "^*^^       '  j^ 
ON  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  THE  NE 

Dear  sir — 

The  Bishop  of  London  leads  me  next  to  the  consideration  of 
the  sacrifice  of  the  new  law,  commonly  called  the  mass,  on 
which,  however,  he  is  brief,  and  evidently  embarrassed.  As  I 
have  already  touched  upon  this  subject,  in  treating  of  the  means 
of  sanctification  in  the  Catholic  Church,  I  shall  be  as  brief  upon 
it  here  as  I  possibly  can. 

A  sacrifice  is  an  offering  up,  and  immolation  of,  a  living  ani- 
mal, or  other  sensible  thing,  to  God,  in  testimony  that  he  is  the 
master  of  life  and  death,  the  Lord  of  us  and  all  things.  It  is 
evidently  a  more  expressive  act  of  the  creature's  homage  to  his 
Creator,  as  well  as  one  more  impressive  on  the  mind  of  the 
creature  itself,  than  mere  prayer  is ;  and,  therefore,  it  was  re- 
vealed by  God  to  the  patriarchs,  at  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
and  afterwards  more  strictly  enjoined  by  him  to  his  chosen  peo- 
ple, in  the  revelation  of  his  written  law  to  Moses,  as  the  most 
acceptable  and  efficacious  worship  that  could  be  offered  up  to 
his  Divine  Majesty.  The  tradition  of  this  primitive  ordinance, 
and  the  notion  of  its  advantageousness,  have  been  so  universal, 
that  it  has  been  practised,  in  one  form  or  other,  in  every  age, 
from  the  time  of  our  first  parents  down  to  the  present,  and  by 
eveiy  people,  whether  civilized  or  barbarous,  except  modern 
Protestants.  For  when  the  nations  of  the  earth  clmnged  the 
glory  of  the  incorruptible  God  into  the  likeness  of  the  image  of  cor- 
ruptible man,  and  of  birds  and  four  footed  beasts,  Rom.  i.  23,  they 

*  The  writer  has  heard  of  British  made  wine  being  frequently  used  by 
church  ministers  in  their  eacrament  for  real  wine.  The  missionaries  who 
were  sent  to  Otaheite,  used  the  breadfruit  for  real  bread,  on  the  like  occa- 
sion.    See  Voyage  of  the  ship  Duif. 

21 


242  LETTER    XL. 

continued  the  right  of  sacrifice,  and  transferred  it  to  those  un 
worthy  objects  of  their  idolatry.  From  the  whole  of  this,  I  infer, 
that  it  would  have  been  truly  surprising,  if  under  the  most  per- 
fect dispensation  of  God's  benefits  to  men,  the  new  law,  he  had 
left  them  destitute  of  sacrifice.  But  he  has  no  so  left  them ; 
on  the  contrary,  m.  nrophecy  of  Malachy  is  evidently  verified 
in  the  Catholic  Church,  spread  as  it  is  over  the  surface  of  the 
earth  :  "  From  the  rising  of  the  sun,  even  to  the  going  down 
thereof,  my  name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles  ;  and  in  every 
place  there  is  SACRIFICE  ;  and  there  is  offered  to  my  name  a 
clean  oblation."  Mai.  i.  11.  If  Protestants  say:  we  have  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ's  death  ;  I  answer,  so  had  the  servants  oi  God 
under  the  law  of  nature,  and  the  written  kiw  ;  "  for  it  is  impos- 
sible that  with  the  blood  of  oxen  and  goats  sin  should  be  taken 
away."  Nevertheless,  they  had  perpetual  sacrifices  of  animals 
to  represent  the  death  of  Christ,  and  to  apply  the  fruits  of  it  to 
their  souls.  In  the  same  manner  Catholics  have  Christ  himself 
really  present,  and  mystically  offered  on  their  altars  daily,  for 
the  same  ends,  but  in  a  far  more  efficacious  manner,  and,  of 
course,  "a  true  propitiatory  sacrifice."  That  Christ  is  truly 
present  in  the  blessed  eucharist,  1  have  proved  by  many  argu- 
ments ;  that  a  mystical  immolation  of  him  takes  place  in  the 
holy  mass,  by  the  separate  consecration  of  the  bread  and  of  the 
wine,  which  strikingly  represents  the  separation  of  his  blood 
from  his  body,  I  have  likewise  shown.  Finally,  I  have  shown 
vou,  that  the  officiating  priest  performs  these  mysteries  by  com- 
mand of  Christ,  and  in  memory  of  what  he  did  at  the  last  sup- 
per, and  what  he  endured  on  Mount  Calvary :  no  this  in  mem- 
ory OF  ME.  Nothing,  then,  is  wanting  in  the  holy  mass  to  con- 
stitute it  the  true  and  propitiatory  sacrifice  of  the  new  law  ;  a 
sacrifice  which  as  much  surpasses,  in  dignity  and  efficacy,  the 
sacrifices  of  the  old  law,  as  the  chief  priest  and  victim  of  i;,  the 
incarnate  Son  of  God,  surpasses,  in  these  respects,  the  sons  of 
Aaron,  and  the  animals  which  they  sacrificed.  No  wonder 
then  that,  as  the  fathers  of  the  church  have,  from  the  c-ailiest 
timesj  borne  testimony  to  the  reality  of  this  sacrifice,*  they 

*  St.  Justin,  who  appears  to  have  been,  in  his  youth,  contemporary  with 
S».  John  the  Evangelist,  says,  "  Christ  instituted  a  sacrifice  in  bread  and 
wine,  which  Christians  ofTer  up  in  every  place,"  quoting  Malachy,  i.  10.  Dia. 
log.  ciim  Tryphon.  St.  Irenaeus,  whose  master,  Polycarp,  was  a  disciple  c' 
that  evangeUst,  says,  that  "  Christ,  in  consecrating  bread  and  wine,  has  inti- 
tuled the  sacrifice  of  the  new  law,  which  the  church  received  from  the  apos- 
ties,  according  to  the  prophecy  of  Malachy."  L.  iv.  32.  St.  Cyprian  calls  the 
eucharist  "  a  true  and  full  sacrifice  ;"  and  says,  that  "  as  Melchisedech  offer, 
ed  bread  and  wine,  so  Christ  offered  the  same,  namely,  his  body  and  blood.** 
Epist.  63.  St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Augustin,  St.  Ambrose,  «fcc.,  are  equally  deal 
and  expressive  on  this  point.  The  last-mentioned  calls  this  sacrifice  by  ^ 
name  oimissa,  so  d«  St.  Leo,  St.  Gregory,  our  Venerable  Bede,  Slc 


SACRIFICE    OF    THE    NEW    LAW.  243 

slnukl  speak  in  such  lofty  terms  of  its  awfulness  and  efficacy ; 
no  wonder  that  the  church  of  God  should  retain  and  revere  it, 
as  the  most  sacred,  and  the  very  essential  part  of  her  sacred 
liturgy  : — and  I  will  add,  no  wonder  that  Satan  should  have 
persuaded  Martin  Luther  to  attempt  to  abrogate  this  worship,  as 
that  which  is  most  of  all  offensive  to  him.* 

The  main  arguments  of  the  Bishops  of  London  and  Lincolji, 
and  of  Dr.  Hey,  with  other  Protestant  controvertists,  against  ths 
sacrifice  of  the  new  law,  are  drawn  from  St.  Paul's  Epistle  ta 
the  Hebrews,  where,  comparing  the  sacrifice  of  our  Saviour  with 
the  sacrifice  of  the  Mosaic  law,  the  apostle  says,  "  That  Christ 
being  become  a  high  priest  of  the  good  things  to  come,  by  a 
greater  and  more  perfect  tabernacle,  not  made  with  hands,  thai 
is,  not  of  this  creation  :  neither  by  the  blood  of  goats  or  of 
calves,  but  by  his  own  blood,  entered  once  into  the  Holies,  hav- 
ing obtained  eternal  redemption."  Heb.  ix.  11,  12.  "Nor  yet 
that  he  should  offer  himself  often,  as  the  high  priest  entereth 
into  the  Holies  every  year,"  v.  25.  Again,  St.  Paul  says^ 
"  Every  priest  standeth  indeed,  daily  ministering,  and  often 
offering  the  same  sacrifices,  which  can  never  take  away  sins  : 
but  this  man  offering  one  sacrifice  for  sins,  sitteth  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,"  chap.  x.  11,  12. — Such  are  the  texts,  at  full 
length,  which  modern  Protestants  urge  so  confidently  against 
the  sacrifice  of  the  new  law,  but  in  which  neither  the  ancient 
fathers,  nor  any  other  description  of  Christians,  but  themselves, 
can  see  any  argument  against  it.  In  fact,  if  these  passages  be 
read  in  their  context,  it  will  appear  that  the  apostle  is  barely 
proving  to  the  Hebrews,  (whose  lofty  ideas  and  strong  tena- 
ciousness  of  their  ancient  rites,  appear  from  different  parts  of 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,)  how  infinitely  superior  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ  is  to  those  of  the  Mosaic  law  ;  particularly  from  the 
circumstance,  which  he  repeats,  in  different  forms,  namely,  that 
there  was  a  necessity  of  their  sacrifices  being  often  repeated, 
which,  after  all,  could  not,  of  themselves,  and  independently  of 
the  one  they  prefigured,  take  away  sin;  whereas  the  latter, 
namely,  Christ's  death  on  the  cross,  obliterated  at  once  the  sins 
cf  those  who  availed  themselves  of  it.  Such  is  the  argument 
of  St.  Paul  to  the  Jews,  respecting  their  sacrifices,  which  in  no 
sort  militates  against  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  ;  this  being  (he 
same  sacrifice  with  that  of  the  cross,  as  to  the  victim  that  is 

♦  Luther,  in  hi^  Book  de  Unct.  et  Miss.  Priv.  torn.  vii.  fol.  228,  gives  an 
account  of  the  motive  which  induced  him  to  suppress  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass  among  his  followers. — He  says  that  the  Devil  appeared  to  him  at  mid- 
night, and,  in  a  long  conference  with  him,  the  whole  of  which  he  relates, 
convinced  him  that  the  worship  of  the  mass  is  idolatry.  See  Jistters  Uj  a 
Prebendary,  Let.  v. 


•44  LETTER    XL. 

offered  and  as  to  the  priest  who  offers  it,  differing  in  nothing  bu, 
the  manner  of  offering  ;*  in  the  one  there  being  a  real,  and  in 
the  other  a  mystical,  effusion  of  the  victim's  blood. f  So  far 
from  invalidating  the  Catholic  doctrine  on  this  point,  the  apostle 
confirms  it  in  this  very  epistle  ;  where,  quoting  and  repeating 
the  sublime  psalm  of  the  royal  prophet  concerning  the  Messiah  : 
Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever  ACCORDING  TO  THE  ORDER 
OF  MELCHISEDECH,  Ps.  cix.  alias  ex. :  he  enlarges  on  the 
dignity  of  this  sacerdotal  patriarch,  to  whom  Aaron  himself,  the 
high  priest  of  the  old  law,  paid  tribute,  as  to  his  superior,  through 
his  ancestor  Abraham.  Heb.  v. — vii.  Now  in  what  did  this 
0}der  of  Melchisedech  consist?  In  what,  I  ask,  did  this  sacri- 
fice differ  from  those  which  Abraham  himself,  and  the  other 
patriarchs,  as  well  as  Aaron  and  his  sons,  offered  ?  Let  us  con- 
sult the  sacred  text,  as  to  what  it  says  concerning  this  royal 
priest,  when  he  came  to  meet  Abraham,  on  his  return  from  vic- 
tory :  "  Melchisedech,  the  king  of  Salem,  bringing  forth  BREAD 
AND  WINE,  for  he  was  the  priest  of  the  Most  High  God  ; 
blessed  him."  Gen.  xiv.  18.  It  was  then  in  offering  up  a  sac- 
rifice of  bread  and  wine.X  instead  of  slaughtered  animals,  that 
Melchisedech's  sacrifice  differed  from  the  generality  of  those  in 
the  old  law,  and  that  he  prefigured  the  sacrifice  which  Christ 
was  to  institute  in  the  new  law,  from  the  same  elements.  No 
other  sense  but  this  can  be  elicited  from  the  Scripture  as  to  this 
matter  ;  and,  accordingly,  the  holy  fathers  unanimously  adhere 
to  this  meaning. § 

In  finishing  this  letter,  I  cannot  help,  dear  sir,  making  two  or 
three  short  but  important  observations.  The  first  regards  the 
deception  practised  on  the  unlearned  by  the  above-named  bishops, 
Dr.  Hey,  and  most  other  Protestant  controvertists,  in  talking  on 
every  occasion  of  the  Popish  mass,  and  representing  the  tenets 
of  the  real  presence,  transubstantiation,  and  a  subsisting  true 
propiatory  sacrifice,  as  peculiar  to  Catholics;  whereas,  if  they 
are  persons  of  any  learning,  they  must  know  that  these  are,  and 
ever  have  been  held,  by  all  the  Christians  in  the  world,  except 
the  comparatively  few  who  inhabit  the  northern  parts  of  Europe. 
[  speak  of  the  Melchite  or  common  Greeks  of  Turkey,  the  Ar- 
menians, the  Muscovites,  the  Nestorians,  the  Eutychians,  or 
Jacobites,  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas  in  India,  the  Cophts  <tnd 
Ethiopians  in  Africa,  all  of  whom  maintain  each  of  those  b.  ti- 

•  Concii.  Trid.  Sess.  xxii.  cap.  2.  t  Cat.  ad.  Paroc.  P.  ii.  p.  81. 

J  Tho  sacrifice  of  Cain,  Gen.  iv.  3,  and  that  ordered  in  Levit.  ii.  1,  of  flour, 
»il,  and  incense,  prove  that  inaniriate  things  wore  sometimes  of  old  offered 
In  sacrifice 

§  Sr.  Cypr.  Ep.  63  St.  Aug.  on  Ps.  xxxiii.  S*.  Chrys.  Horn  35.  St 
^erom,  Ep.  126,  &c. 


SACRIFICE    OF    THE    NEW    LAW.  245 

cles,  and  almost  every  other  on  which  Protestants  differ  from 
Catholics,  with  as  much  firmness  as  we  ourselves  do.  Now  as 
these  seots  have  been  totally  separated  from  the  Catholic 
Church,  some  of  them  eight  hundred,  and  some  fourteen  hun- 
dred years,  it  is  impossible  they  should  have  derived  any  recent 
doctrines  or  practices  from  her ;  and,  divided  as  they  ever  have 
been  among  themselves,  they  cannot  have  combined  to  adopt 
them.  On  the  other  hand,  since  the  rise  of  Protestantism,  at- 
tempts have  been  repeatedly  made  to  draw  some  or  other  of 
them  to  the  novel  creed,  but  all  in  vain.  Melancthon  translated 
the  Augsburg  Confession  of  Faith  into  Greek,  and  sent  it  to 
Joseph,  Patriarch  of  Constantinoplb,  hoping  he  would  adopt  it ; 
whereas  the  patriarch  did  not  so  much  as  acknowledge  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  present.*  Fourteen  years  later,  Crusius,  Professor 
of  Tubigen,  made  a  similar  attempt  on  Jeremy,  the  successor 
of  Joseph,  who  wrote  back,  requesting  him  to  write  no  more  on 
the  subject,  at  the  same  time  making  the  most  explicit  declara- 
tion of  his  belief  in  the  seven  sacraments,  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass,  transubstantiation,  &c.f — In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  fresh  overtures  being  made  to  the  Greeks  by  the  Cal- 
vinists  of  Flolland,  the  most  convincing  evidence  of  the  orthodox 
belief  of  all  the  above-mentioned  c^ommunions,  on  the  articles  in 
question,  were  furnished  by  them :  the  original  of  which  was 
deposited  in  the  French  king's  library  at  Paris. J  I  have  to  re- 
mark, in  the  second  place,  on  the  inconsistencies  of  the  Church 
of  England,  respecting  this  point :  she  has  priests,^  but  no  sac 
rifice!  she  has  altars,\^  but  no  victim!  she  has  an  essential  con,' 
secration  of  the  sacramental  elements,ir  without  any  the  least 
effect  upon  them!  Not  to  dive  deeper  into  this  chaos,  I  would 
gladly  ask  Bishop  Porteus ;  what  hinders  a  deacon,  or  even  a 
layman,  from  consecrating  the  sacramental  bread  and  wine,  as 
validly  as  a  priest  or  a  bishop  can  do,  agreeably  to  his  system 
of  consecration  ?  There  is  evidently  no  obstacle  at  all,  except 
such  as  the  mutable  law  of  the  land  interposes.  In  the  last 
place,  I  think  it  right  to  quota  some  of  the  absurd  and  irreligious 
invectives  of  the  renowned  Di  Hey  against  the  holy  mass,  be- 
cause they  show  the  extreme  ignorance  of  our  religion  which 
generally  prevails  among  the  most  learned  Protestants  who  write 

t  Sheffmac.  torn.  ii.  p.  7.  t  Ibid. 

i  Perpetuit.  de  la  Foi.        §  See  the  Rubrics  of  the  Communion  Service. 

II  See  ditto,  in  Sparrow's  Collec.  p.  20. 

IT  "  If  the  consecrated  bread  or  wine  be  all  spent,  before  all  have  commu 
nicated,  the  priest  is  to  consecrate  more."     Rubrics. 

N.  B.  Bishop  Warburton  and  Bishop  Cleaver  earnestly  contend,  that  the 
eucharist  is  a  feast  upon  a  sacrifice;  but  as,  in  their  dread  of  Popery  they 
admit  no  change,  nor  even  the  reality  of  a  victim,  their  east  is  proved  to  be 
ar  imaginary  banquet  on  an  ideal  viand. 

21* 


246  LETTER  XL. 

against  it.  The  doctor  first  describes  the  mass  as  "  blasphe. 
mous,  in  dragging  down  Christ  from  heaven,"  according  to  his 
eX|jression  ;  2dly,  as  "  pernicious  in  giving  men  an  easy  way/' 
as  he  pretends,  "  of  evading  all  their  moral  and  religious  du- 
ties;"  3dly,  "  as  promoting  infidelity;"  in  conformity  wilh 
which  latter  assertion,  he  maintains,  that  "  most  Romanists  of 
letters  and  science  are  infidels."  He  next  proceeds  seriously  to 
advise  Cat!  olics  to  abandon  this  part  of  their  sacred  liturgy, 
namely,  the  adorable  sacrifice  of  the  new  law ;  and  he  thesi 
concludes  his  theological  farce  with  the  following  ridiculous 
threats  against  this  sacrifice  :  "  If  the  Romanists  will  not  listen 
to  our  brotherly  exhortations,  let  them  fear  our  threats.  The 
rage  of  paying  for  masses  will  not  last  for  ever;  as  men  improve 
(by  the  French  revolution)  it  will  continue  to  grow  weaker  :  as 
philosophy  (that  of  Atheism)  rises,  masses  will  sink  in  price,  and 
superstition  pine  away."*  I  wish  I  had  an  opportunity  of  tell- 
ing the  learned  professor,  that  I  should  have  expected,  from  the 
failure  of  Patriarch  Luther,  counselled  and  assisted  as  he  was  by 
Satan  himself,  in  his  attempts  to  abolish  the  holy  mass,  he  would 
have  been  more  cautious  in  dealing  prophetic  threats  against  it ! 
In  fact,  he  has  lived  to  see  thi,  divine  worship  publicly  restored 
in  every  part  of  Christendom  where  it  was  proscribed,  when  he 
vented  his  menaces ;  for  as  to  the  private  celebration  of  massj 
this  was  never  intermitted,  not  even  in  the  depth  of  the  gloomi- 
est dungeons,  and  where  no  pay  could  be  had  by  the  Catholic 
priesthood.  What  other  religious  worship,  I  ask,  could  have 
triumphed  over  such  a  persecution  1  The  same  will  be  the  case 
in  the  latter  days,  when  the  man  of  sin  shall  have  indignation 
against  the  covenant  of  the  sanctuary — and  shall  take  away  tlve  con- 
tinual sacrifice,  Dan.  xi.  30,  34  ;  for  even  then,  the  mystical 
woman  who  is  clothed  with  the  sun,  and  has  the  moon  under  her 
feet — shall  fly  into  the  wilderness,  Rev.  xii.  1,  6,  and  perform 
the  divine  mysteries  of  a  God  incarnate  in  caverns  and  cata- 
combs,  as  she  did  in  early  times  ;  till  that  happy  day,  when  hei 
heavenly  Spouse,  casting  aside  those  sacramental  veils  under 
which  his  love  now  shrouds  him,  shall  shine  forth  in  the  glo? 
of  God  the  Father,  the  Judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead. 

I  am,  &c. 

John  Milner. 

*  Dr.  Hey's  Theol.  Lectures,  vol.  iv.  p.  385.  The  professor  tells  us  in  a 
Bote,  that  this  lecture  was  delivered  in  the  year  1792,  the  hey-day  of  tha 
antichristian  and  anti-social  philosophy,  which  attempted,  through  an  ocean 
of  blood,  to  subvert  every  altar  and  every  tlirone.. 


ABSOLUTION    FRO^      XN  247 

LETTER  XLl.-  -TO  THE  REV.  ROBERT  CLAYTON,  M.A. 

ON  ABSOLUTION  FROM  SIN. 

Reverend  sir — 

I  PERCEIVE  that,  in  selecting  objections  against  the  church, 
although  you  chiefly  follow  Bishop  Porteus,  who  mixes,  in  the 
sane  chapter,  the  heterogeneous  subjects  of  the  mass  and  the 
forgiveness  of  sins,  you  adopt  some  others  from  the  Tracts  of 
Bishop  Watson,  and  even  from  writers  of  such  little  repute  as 
the  Rev.  C.  De  Coetlogan.  This  preacher,  in  venting  the  hor- 
rid calumnies  which  a  great  ptoportion  of  other  Protestant 
preachers  and  controvertists  of  different  sects,  equally  with  him- 
self, instil  into  the  minds  of  their  ignorant  hearers  and  readers, 
expresses  himself  as  follows  :  "  In  the  Cjiurch  of  Rome,  you 
may  purchase  not  only  pardon  for  sins  already  committed,  but 
for  those  that  shall  be  committed  ;  so  that  any  one  may  promise 
himself  impunity,  upon  paying  the  rate  that  is  set  upon  any  sin 
he  hath  a  mind  to  commit. — And  so  truly  is  Popery  the  mother 
of  abominations,  that  if  any  one  hath  wherewithal  to  pay,  he 
may  not  only  be  indulged  in  his  present  transgressions,  but  may 
even  be  permitted  to  transgress  in  future.''"^  And  are  these 
shameless  calumniators  real  Christians,  who  believe  in  a  judg- 
ment to  come  ?  And  do  they  expect  to  make  us  Catholics  re- 
nounce our  religion,  by  representing  it  to  us  as  the  very  reverse 
of  what  w^e  know  it  to  be  ? — It  is  true.  Bishop  Porteus,  in  his 
attack  upon  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  absolution  and  justification, 
does  not  go  the  lengths  of  the  pulpit  declaimer  above  quoted, 
and  of  the  other  controvertists  alluded  to  ;  still  he  is  guflty  of 

*  Abominations  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  p.  13.  The  preacher  goes  on  to 
state  the  sums  of  money  for  which,  he  says,  Catholics  beheve  they  may  com- 
mit  the  most  atrocious  crimes  :  "  For  mcest,  &c.,  five  sixpences  ;  for  de- 
bauching a  virgin,  six  sixpences  ;  for  perjury,  ditto  ;  for  him  who  kills  hia 
father,  mother,  &.C.,  one  crown  and  five  groats !" — This  curious  account  is 
borrowed  from  the  Taxa  Cancellaria  Eoman<c,  a  book  which  has  been  fre. 
quently  published,  though  with  great  variations  both  as  to  the  crimes  and  the 
pricas,  by  th«  Protestants  of  Germany  and  France,  and  as  frequently  con- 
demned by  the  See  of  Rome.  It  is  proper  that  Mr.  Clayton  and  his  friend 
should  know,  that  the  pope's  court  of  chancery  has  no  more  to  do,  nor  pre. 
tends  to  have  any  more  to  do,  with  ihe  forgiveness  of  sins,  than  his  majesty's 
court  of  chancery  does.  In  case  there  ever  was  the  least  real  groundwork 
for  this  vile  book,  which  I  cannot  find  there  was,  the  money  paid  into  the 
papal  chancery  could  be  nothing  else  but  ihe  fees  of  office,  on  restoring  cer. 
tain  culprits  to  the  certain  privileges  which  they  h&d  forfeited  by  their  crimes 
When  the  proceedings  in  Doctors'  Commons,  in  a  case  of  incest,  are  sus- 
pended, (as  I  have  known  them  suspended  during  the  whole  life  of  one  of 
the  accused  parties,)  fees  of  office  are  always  required ;  but  would  it  not  be 
A  vile  calumny  to  say,  that  leave  to  commit  incest  may  be  j  urchased  in  Eng. 
land  for  certain  sums  of  money  ? 


248  LETTER    XLI. 

much  gross  misiepresentation  of  it.  As  his  language  on  iha 
subject  is  confused,  if  not  contradictory,  I  will  briefly  state  whai 
the  Catholic  Church  has  ever  believed,  and  has  solemnly  defined 
in  her  last  general  council,  concerning  it. 

The  Council  of  Trent  teaches,  that  "  All  men  lost  their  inno- 
cence, and  became  defiled,  and  children  of  wrath,  in  the  prevari- 
cation of  Adam;" — that,  "not  only  the  Gentiles  were  unable 
by  the  force  of  nature,  but  that  even  the  Jews  were  unable,  by 
t/ie  law  of  Moses,  to  rise,  notwithstanding  free-will  was  not  ex- 
tinct in  them,  however  weakened  and  depraved  ;"* — that,  "  The 
heavenly  Father  of  mercy  and  God  of  all  consolation  sent  his 
Son,  Jesus  Christ,  to  men,  in  order  to  redeem  both  Jews  and 
Gentiles  ;"f — that,  "  Though  he  died  for  all,  yet  a'jl  do  not  re- 
ceive the  benefit  of  his  death  ;  but  only  those  to  whom  the  merit 
of  his  passion  is  communicated  ;"J — that,  for  this  pui*pose, 
"  Since  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  baptism,  or  the  desire  of  it, 
is  necessary  ;"§ — that,  "  The  beginning  of  justification,  in  adult 
persons,  (those  who  are  come  to  the  use  of  reason,)  is  to  be  de- 
rived from  God's  preventing  grace,  through  Jesus  Christ,  by 
which,  without  any  merits  of  their  own,  they  are  called  ;  sc 
that  they  who,  by  their  sins,  were  averse  from  God,  are,  by  hi:? 
exciting  and  assisting  grace,  prepared  to  convert  themselves  tJ 
their  justification,  by  freely  consenting  to,  and  co-operating  with 
his  grace  ;"|| — that,  "  Being  excited  and  assisted  by  divine 
grace,  and  receiving  faith  from  hearing,  they  are  freely  moved 
towards  God,  believing  the  things  which  have  been  divinely  re- 
vealed and  promised — they  are  excited  to  hope  that  God  will  be 
merciful  to  them  for  Christ's  sake,  and  they  begin  to  love  him, 
as  the  fountain  of  all  justice  ;  and  therefore  are  moved  to  a  cer- 
tain  hatred  and  detestation  of  sins ;" — lastly,  "  They  resolve, 
on  receiving  baptism,  to  begin  a  new  life,  and  keep  God's  com- 
mandments. "IF — Such  is  the  doctrine  of  the  church  concerning 
the  justification  of  the  adult  in  baptism.  With  respect  to  the 
pardon  of  sins  committed  after  baptism,  the  church  teaches  that, 
"  The  penance  of  a  Christian,  after  his  fall,  is  very  difl^erent 
from  that  of  baptism,  and  that  it  consists  not  only  in  refraining 
from  sins,  and  sincerely  detesting  them  ;  that  is,  hi  a  contn.is 
and  humble  heart ;  but  also  in  a  sacramental  confession  L-f  them, 
in  desire  at  least,  and  at  a  proper  time  ;  and  th?  priestly  a Jso/?/- 
tion.  Likewise  in  satisfaction  ;  by  fasting,  alms,  prayers,  and 
other  pious  exercises  of  a  s])iritual  life ;  not  indeed  for  the  eier^ 
nal punishment,  which,  together  with  the  crime,  is  remitted  in 
the  sacrament,  or  the  desire  of  the  sacrament,  hut  for  the  tern' 

•  Sess.  vi.  cap.  i.  t  Cap.  ii.  t  Cap.  Hi. 

§  Cap.  IV.  y  Cap.  V.  ^  Cap.  vL 


ABSOLUTION    FROM    SlN.  24y 

p<yral  punishment,  which  the  Scripture  teaches  is  not  always  and 
wholly  remitted,  as  in  baptism."*  Such  is,  and  always  was, 
the  ioctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which  thus  ascribes  the 
whole  glory  of  man's  justification,  both  in  its  beginning  and  its 
progi^ss,  to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ;  in  opposition  to  Pela- 
gians and  modern  Lutherans,  who  attribute  the  beginning  of 
conversion  to  the  human  creature.  On  the  other  hand,  this  doc- 
trine leaves  man  in  possession  of  his  free-will,  for  co-operating 
in  this  great  work ;  and  thereby  rejects  the  pernicious  tenet  of 
the  Calvinists,  who  deny  free-will,  and  ascribe  even  our  sins  to 
God.  In  short,  the  Catholic  Church  equally  condemns  the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  Methodist,  who  fancies  himself  justified,  in  some 
unexpected  instant,  without  faith,  hope,  charity,  or  contrition ; 
and  the  presumption  of  the  unconverted  sinner,  who  supposes 
that  exterior  good  works  and  the  reception  of  the  sacrament  will 
avail  him,  without  any  degree  of  the  above-mentioned  divine 
virtues.  Such,  I  say,  is  the  Catholic  doctrine,  in  spite  of  all  the 
calumnies  of  the  Rev.  C.  De  Coetlogan  and  Bishop  Porteus. — 
This  prelate  is  chiefly  bent  on  disproving  the  necessity  of  sacra- 
mental  confession,  and  on  depriving  the  sacerdotal  absolution  of 
all  efficacy  whatsoever.  Accordingly,  he  maintains,  that  when 
Christ  breathed  upon  his  apostles,  and  said  to  them;  Receive  ye 
the  Holy  Ghost,  WHOSE  SINS  YOU  SHALL  FORGIVE, 
THEY  ARE  FORGIVEN  TO  THEM  ;  AND  WHOSE 
SINS  YOU  SHALL  RETAIN,  THEY  ARE  RETAINEi», 
John  XX.  22,  23,  he  did  not  give  them  any  real  power  to  remit 
sins,  but  only  "  a  power  of  declaring  who  were  truly  penitent, 
and  of  inflicting  miraculous  punishment  on  sinners  ;  as  likewise 
of  preaching  the  word  of  God,"  dccf  And  is  this,  I  appeal  to 
you,  reverend  sir,  follov/ing  the  plain  natural  sense  of  the  writ- 
ten word  ?  But,  instead  of  arguing  the  case  myself,  I  will  pro- 
duce an  authority  against  the  bishop's  vague  and  arbitrary  gloss 
on  this  decisive  passage,  which  I  think  he  cannot  object  to  or 
withstand  ;  it  is  no  other  than  that  of  the  renowned  Protestant 
champion,  Chillingworth.  Treating  of  this  text,  he  says  :  "  Can 
any  man  be  so  unreasonable  as  to  imagine,  that  when  our  Sa- 
vicur,  in  so  solemn  a  manner,  having  first  breathed  upon  hia 
disciples,  thereby  conveying  and  insinuating  the  Holy  Ghos! 
into  their  hearts,  renewed  unto  them,  or  rather  confirmed  thai 
glorious  commission,  &c.,  whereby  he  delegated  to  them  an  au- 
thority of  binding  and  loosing  sins  upon  earth,  &c.,  can  any  one 
think,  I  say,  so  unworthily  of  our  Saviour,  as  to  esteem  these 
words  of  his  for  no  better  than  compliment  ?  Therefore,  in  obe- 
dience to  his  gracious  will,  and  as  I  am  warranted  and  enjoined 

•  John,  IX.  22,  23.  +  P  45. 


250  LETTER  XLI. 

Dv  m>  holy  mother,  the  Church  of  England,  I  btseech  you,  that 
by  your  practice  and  use,  you  will  not  suffer  that  commission, 
which  CI\!"'st  hath  given  to  his  ministers,  to  be  a  vain  form  of 
words,  wit  lout  any  sense  und  r  them.  When  you  find  your- 
selves  charged  and  oppressed  &c.,  have  recourse  to  your  spirit. 
ual  physician,  and  freely  disclose  the  nature  and  malignancy 
of  your  disease,  &c.  And  come  not  to  him,  only  with  such 
mind  as  you  would  go  to  a  learned  man,  as  one  that  can  speak 
comfortable  things  to  you  :  but  as  to  one  that  '  hath  authority 
delegated  to  him  from  God  himself,  to  absolve  and  acquit  you 
of  your  sias.'  "* 

Having  quoted  this  great  Protestant  authority,  against  the 
prelate's  cavils  concerning  sacerdotal  absolution,  I  shall  pro- 
duce one  or  two  more  of  the  same  sort,  and  then  return  to  the 
more  direct  proofs  of  the  doctrine  under  consideration.  The 
Lutherans,  then,  who  are  the  elder  branch  of  the  Reformation, 
in  their  Confession  of  Faith,  and  Apology  for  that  Confession, 
expressly  teach,  that  absolution  is  no  less  a  sacrament  than 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper ;  that  particular  ahsolut'on  is  to 
be  retained  in  confession  ;  that  to  reject  it  is  the  error  of  the 
Novatian  heretics;  and  that,  by  the  power  of  the  keys.  Matt. 
xvi.  19,  sins  are  remitted,  not  only  in  the  sight  of  the  church, 
but  also  in  the  sight  of  God.'\  Luther  himself,  in  his  catechism, 
requires  that  the  penitent  in  confession  should  expressly  declare, 
that  he  believes  the  "  forgiveness  of  the  priest  to  be  the  forgive- 
ness of  God. "J  What  can  Bishop  Porteus  and  other  modern 
Protestants  say  to  all  this,  except  that  Luther  and  his  disciples 
were  infected  with  Popery  ?  Let  us  then  proceed  to  inquire 
into  the  doctrine  of  the  church  itself,  of  which  he  is  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  heads.  In  The  Order  of  the  Communion^ 
composed  by  Cranmer,  and  published  by  Edward  VL  the  par- 
son,  vicar,  or  curate  is  to  proclaim  this  among  other  things  :  "If 
there  be  any  of  you  whose  conscience  is  troubled  and  grieved  at 
any  thing,  lacking  comfort  or  counsel,  let  him  come  to  me,  or 
to  some  other  discreet  and  learned  priest,  and  confess  and  open 
his  sin  and  grief  secretly,  &c.,  and,  that  of  us,  as  a  minister 
of  God  and  of  the  church,  he  may  receive  comfort  and  abso- 
lution.§  Conformably  with  this  admonition,  it  is  ordained  in  the 
,  Common  Prayer  Book,  that  when  the  minister  visits  any  sick 
person,  the  "  latter  should  be  moved  to  make  a  special  confes- 
sion of  nis  sins,  if  he  feels  his  conscience  troubled  with  any 
weighty  matter;  after  which  confession,  the  priest  shall  absolve 

•  Scrm.  vii.  Religian  of  Prot.  pp.  408,  409. 
t  Confess.  Augs.  Art.  xi.  xii.  xiii.  A  pel. 

t  In  Catech.  Parv.     See  also  Luther's  Table  Talk,  c.  xviii.  on  Auricula. 
Confession.  §  Bishop  Sparrow's  Collect,  p.  90. 


ABSOLUTION    FROM    SIN.  251 

hiin,  if  he  humbly  and  heartily  desire  it,  after  this  sort :  "  Our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  left  power  to  his  church  to  absolve 
all  sinners  who  truly  repent  and  believe  in  him.  of  his  great 
mercy,  forgive  thee  thine  offences  :  and  by  his  authority  com- 
mitted to  me,  I  ABSOLVE  THEE  FROM  ALL  THY  SINS, 
in  he  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Gliost,  Amen."*  I  may  add,  that  soon  after  James  L  became, 
at  the  same  time,  the  member  and  the  head  of  the  English 
c^  urc/i,  he  desired  his  prelates  to  inform  him  in  the  conference 
at  Hampton  Court,  what  authority  this  church  claimed  in  the 
article  of  absolution  from  sin  ?  when  Archbishop  Whitgift  began 
to  entertain  him  with  an  account  of  the  general  confession  and 
absolution  in  the  communion  service,  with  which  the  king  not 
being  satisfied,  Bancroft,  at  that  time  Bishop  of  London,  fell  on 
his  knees,  and  said,  "  It  becomes  us  to  deal  plainly  with  your 
majesty  ;  there  is  also  in  the  book,  a  more  particular  and  per- 
sonal absolution  in  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick.  Not  only  the 
Confession  of  Augusta,  (Augsburg,)  Bohemia  and  Saxony,  re- 
tain and  allow  it,  but  also  Mr.  Calvin  doth  approve  both  such  a 
general  and  such  a  private  confession  and  absolution."  To 
this  the  king  answered,  "  I  exceedingly  well  approve  it,  being 
an  apostolical  and  godly  ordinance,  given  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  to  one  that  desireth  it,  upon  the  clearing  of  his  con- 
science."! 

I  have  signified  that  there  are  other  passages  of  Scripture 
besides  that  quoted  above  from  John  xx.  in  proof  of  the  author- 
ity exercised  by  the  Catholic  Church,  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins ; 
such  as  Matt.  xvi.  19,  where  Christ  gives  the  keys  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  to  Peter;  and  chap,  xviii.  18,  where  he  declares 
to  all  his  apostles:  "  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  whatsoever  you 
shall  bind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  a!u,d  whatsoever 
you  shall  loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."  But  here 
also.  Bishop  Porteus  and  modern  Protestants  distort  the  plain 
meaning  of  Scripture,  and  say,  that  no  other  power  is  expressed 
by  these  words,  than  those  of  inflicting  miraculous  punishments, 
and  of  preaching  the  word  of  God  ! — Admitting,  however,  it 
were  possible  to  affix  so  foreign  a  meaning  to  these  texts,  I 

*  Order  for  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick.  N.  B.  To  encourage  the  sscrei 
lonfession  of  sins,  the  Church  of  England  has  made  a  canon,  requiring  her 
o'nisters  not  to  reveal  the  same.     See  Canones  Eccles.  A.  D.  1693j  n  113. 

t  Fuller's  Ch.  Hist.  B.  x.  p.  9.  See  the  defence  of  Bancroft's  successor 
■  a  the  See  of  Canterbury,  Dr.  Laud,  whr  endeavored  to  enforce  auricular 
confession,  in  Heylin's  Life  of  Laud,  P.  ii  p.  415.  It  appears  from  this  wri- 
ter, that  Laud  was  confessor  to  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  from  Burnet, 
that  Bishop  Morley  was  Confessor  to  the  Duchess  of  York,  when  a  Protest. 
Mit.     Hi<  tory  of  his  own  Times. 


252  LETTER    XLI. 

would  gladly  ask  the  bishop,  why,  after  ordaining  the  priests  of 
his  church  by  this  very  form  of  words,  he  afterwards,  by  a 
separate  form,  commissions  them  to  preach  the  word,  and  to 
minister  ?*  "  No  one,"  exclaims  the  bishop,  "  but  God,  can 
forgive  sins."  True  ;  but  as  he  has  annexed  the  forgiveness 
of  sins  committed  before  baptism,  to  the  reception  of  this  sacra- 
ment with  the  requisite  dispositions  :  "Do  penance,"  said  St.  Pe- 
ter  to  the  Jews,  "  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  your  sins,"  Acts  ii.  38  ;  so 
he  is  pleased  to  forgive  sins  committed  after  baptism,  by  means 
of  contrition,  confession,  satisfaction,  and  the  priest's  absolution. 
Against  the  obligation  of  confessing  sins,  which  is  so  evident- 
ly sanctioned  in  Scripture,  "  Many  that  believed,  came  and 
confessed,  and  declared  their  deeds,"  Acts  xix.  18 ;  and  so 
expressly  commanded  therein,  "  Confess  your  sins  one  to  an- 
other," James  v.  16  ;  the  bishop  contends,  that,  "  It  is  not  know- 
ing a  person's  sins,  that  can  qualify  the  priest  to  give  him 
absolution,  but  knowing  he  hath  repented  of  them."f  In  refu- 
tation of  this  objection,  I  do  not  ask  :  Why,  then,  does  the  Eng- 
lish church  move  the  dying  man  to  confess  his  sins  ?  but  I  say, 
that  the  priest,  being  vested  by  Christ  with  a  judicial  power 
to  bind  or  to  loose,  to  forgive  or  to  retain  sins,  cannot  exercise 
hat  power,  without  taking  cognizance  of  the  cause  on  which  he 
s  to  pronounce,  and  without  judging  in  particular  of  the  dis- 
positions of  the  sinner,  especially  as  to  his  sorrow  for  his  sins, 
and  resolution  to  refrain  from  them  in  future.  Now  this  know- 
ledge can  only  be  gained  from  the  penitent's  own  confession. 
From  this  may  be  gathered,  whether  his  offences  are  those  of 
frailty  or  of  malice,  whether  they  are  accidental  or  habitual ; 
in  which  latter  case,  they  are  ordinarily  to  be  retained,  till  his 
amendment  gives  proof  of  his  real  repentance.  Confession  is 
also  necessary,  to  enable  the  minister  of  the  sacrament  to  de- 
cide, whether  a  public  reparation  for  the  crimes  committed,  be 
or  be  not  requisite ;  and  whether  there  is,  or  is  not  restitution 
to  be  made  to  the  neighbor  who  has  been  injured  in  person,  pro- 
perty, or  reputation.  Accordingly,  it  is  well  known  that  such 
restitutions  are  frequently  made  by  those  who  make  use  of 
sacramental  confession,  and  very  seldom  by  those  who  do  not 
use  it.  I  say  nothing  of  the  incalculable  advantage  it  is  to  the 
sinner,  in  the  business  of  his  conversion,  to  have  a  confidential 
ana  experienced  pastor,  to  withdraw  the  veils  beliind  which  self- 
love  is  apt  to  conceal  his  favorite  passions  and  worse  crimes, 
and  to  expose  to  him  the  enormity  of  his  guilt,  of  which  before 
he  had  perhaps  but  an  imperfect  notion  ;  and  to  prescribe  to  him 

*  See  the  Form  of  Ordaining  Priesta  t  P.  4C 


ABSOLUTTOK    FROM    SIN.  Q'^9 

the  proper  remedies  for  his  entire  spiritual  cure. — After  all.  it 
IS  for  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  with  whom  the  word  of  God 
and  the  sacraments  were  deposited,  by  her  divine  Spouse,  Jesus 
Christ,  to  explain  the  sense  of  the  former,  and  the  const  .Ji  Jenl3 
of  the  latter ;  and  this  church  has  uniformly  taught,  that  con- 
fession, and  the  priest's  absolution,  where  they  can  be  had,  art 
reouired  for  the  pardon  of  the  penitent  sinner,  as  well  as  contri 
tion,  and  a  firm  purpose  of  amendment.  But,  to  believe  tho 
bistiop,  our  church  does  not  require  contrition  at  all,  for  the 
justification  of  the  sinner,  though  she  has  declared  it  to  be  one 
of  the  necessary  parts  of  sacramental  penance,  nor  "  any  dis- 
like to  sin  or  love  to  God."*  I  will  make  no  further  answ(5r  to 
this  shameful  calumny,  than  by  referring  you  and  your  friends 
to  my  above  citations  from  the  Council  of  Trent.  In  these, 
you  have  seen  that  she  requires  "  a  hatred  and  detestation  of 
sin,"  that  is,  "a  contrite  and  humble  heart,  which  God  never  de- 
spises ;"  and,  moreover,  an  incipient  love  of  God,  as  the  foun- 
tain of  all  justice." 

Finally,  his  lordship  has  the  confidence  to  maintain,  that 
"The  primitive  church  did  not  hold  confession  and  absolution 
of  this  kind  to  be  necessary,"  and  that  "  Private  confession  was 
never  thought  of  as  a  command  of  God,  for  900  years  after 
Christ,  nor  determined  to  be  such  till  after  1200. "f  The  few 
following  quotations  from  ancient  fathers  and  councils,  will  con- 
vince our  Salopian  friends,  what  sort  of  trust  they  are  to  placo 
in  this  prelate's  assertions  on  theological  subjects.  Tertullian, 
who  lived  in  the  age  next  to  that  of  the  apostles,  and  is  the 
earliest  Latin  writer  whose  works  we  possess,  writes  thus  :  "  If 
you  withdraw  from  confession,  think  of  hell  fire,  which  confes- 
sion extinguishes.":!:  Origen,  who  wrote  soon  after  him,  incul- 
cates the  necessity  of  confessing  our  most  secret  sms,  even  those  of 
thought,^  and  advises  the  sinner  "  to  look  carefully  about  him  in 
phoosingthe  person  to  whom  he  is  to  confess  his  sins."||  St.  >"-a- 
sil,  in  the  fourth  century,  wrote  thus  :  "  It  is  necessary  to  discV  ^se 
our  sins  to  those  to  whom  the  dispensation  of  ti\e  divine  my.'ite- 
ries  is  committed. "H  St.  Paulinus,  the  disciple  of  St.  .\mbrose, 
relates,  that  this  holy  doctor  used  to  "  weep  over  the  peniteniiS 
whose  confessions  he  heard,  but  never  disclosed  their  sins  to  any 
but  to  God  alone."**  The  great  St.  Augustm  writes,  "Out 
merciful  God  wills  us  to  confess  in  this  world,  that  we  may  no» 
be  confounded  in  the  other  ;"j-|  and  elsewhere  he  says,  "  Let  no 
sne  say  to  himself,  1  do  penance  to  God  in  pnvix'e.     Is  it  tiit:«» 

•  P.  47.  +  Il)id.  '   t-^:^  Ae  Paeni* 

^  Horn.  3  in  Levit.  |I  Horn.  2  in  Fs.  xxxvn.  ^    Rulo  2151. 

**  In  Vit.  Ambros.  tt  Horn.  20. 

92 


i54  LETTER    XLI. 

iL  \ain  that  Christ  has  sa.d,  *  Whatsoever  you  loose  en  earth 
shall  be  loosed  in  heaven  ?'  Is  it  in  vain  that  the  keys  have 
neen  given  to  the  church  ?"*  I  could  produce  a  long  list  of 
other  passages  to  the  same  effect,  from  fathers  and  doctors,  a  ad 
also  from  councils  of  tiic  church,  anterior  to  the  periods  he  has 
assigned  to  the  commencenieni  and  confirmation  of  the  doctrine 
in  question ;  but  I  will  nave  recourse  to  a  shorter,  and  perhaps 
a  more  convincing  proof,  thnt  this  lioctrine  could  not  have  been 
introduced  into  the  church,  at  any  period  whatsoever  subsequent 

o  that  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  My  argument  is  this  :  it  is 
impossible  it  should  have  been  at  any  time  introduced,  if  it  was 
not  from  the  first  necessary.  The  pride  of  the  human  hear 
would  at  all  times  have  revolted  at  the  imposition  of  such  a  hu- 
millation,  as  that  of  confessing  all  its  most  secret  sins,  if  Chris- 
tians had  not  previously  believed  that  this  rite  is  of  divine  insti- 
tution, and  even  necessary  for  the  pardon  of  them.  Supposing, 
however,  that  the  clergy,  at  some  period,  had  fascinated  the 
laity,  kings  and  emperors,  as  well  as  peasants,  to  submit  to  this 
yoke ;  it  will  still  remain  to  be  accounted  for,  how  they  took  it 
up  themselves  ;  for  monks,  and  priests,  and  bishops,  and  the 
pope  himself,  must  equally  confess  their  sins,  with  the  meanest 
of  the  people.  And  if  even  this  could  be  explained,  it  would 
still  be  necessary  to  show,  how  the  numerous  organized  churches 
of  the  Nestorians  and  Eutychians  spread  over  Asia  and  Africa, 
fFom  Bagdad  to  Axium,  all  of  whom  broke  from  the  communion 
of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  fifth  century,  took  up  the  notion 
of  penance  being  a  sacrament,  and  that  confession  and  absolu- 
tion are  essential  parts  of  it,  as  they  all  believe  at  the  present 
day.  With  respect  to  the  main  body  of  the  Greek  Christians, 
they  separated  from  the  Latins  much  about  the  period  which 
our  prelate  has  set  down  for  the  rise  of  this  doctrine  ;  but  though 
they  reproached  the  Latin  Christians  with  shaving  their  beards, 
singing  Allelujah  at  wrong  seasons,  and  other  such  like  minu- 
tiae, they  never  accused  them  of  any  error  respecting  private 
confession  or  sacerdotal  absolution.  To  support  the  bishof's 
assertions  on  this  and  many  other  points,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
suppose,  as  I  have  said  before,  that  a  hundred  million  of  Greek 
and  Latin  Christians  lost  their  senses  on  some  one  and  the  same 
day  or  night ! 

In  finishing  this  letter,  I  take  leave,  reverend  sir,  to  advert  to 

"'e  case  of  some  of  your  respectable  society,  who,  to  my  know- 
ledge, are  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Catholic  religion,  but 
ari  deterred  from  embracing  it,  by  the  dread  of  that  sacrament 
»f  which  I  have  been  treating.     Their  pitiable  case  is  by  no 

•  Horn.  49. 


INDULGENCES.  25o 

means  singulai  ;  we  continually  find  persons,  who  are  not  only 

desirous  of  reconciling  themselves  to  Ineir  true  mother,  the 
Catholic  Church,  but  also  of  laying  the  sins  of  their  youth,  and 
their  ignorances,  Ps.  xxiv.,  alias  xxv.  7,  at  the  feet  of  some  one 
or  other  of  her  faithful  ministers,  convinced  that  thereby  they 
would  procure  ease  to  their  afflicted  souls;  yet  have  not  the 
courage  to  do  this.  Let  the  persons  alluded  to  humbly  and  fei . 
vently  pray  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  gifts  for  his  strengthening 
grace,  and  let  them  be  persuaded  of  the  truth  of  what  an  unex- 
ccptionable  witness  says,  who  had  experienced,  while  he  was  a 
Cjitholic,  the  interior  joy  he  describes  ;  where,  persuading  the 
peniten*  to  go  to  his  confessor,  "  not  as  to  one  that  can  speak 
comfortable  and  quieting  words  to  him,  but  as  to  one  that  hath 
authority  delegated  to  him  from  God  himself,  to  absolve  and  ac- 
quit him  of  his  sins,"  he  goes  on  ;  "  If  you  shall  do  this,  assure 
your  souls,  that  the  understanding  of  man  is  not  able  to  con- 
ceive that  transport,  and  excess  of  joy  and  comfort,  which  shall 
accrue  to  that  man's  heart,  who  is  persuaded  he  hath  been  made 
partaker  of  this  blessing."*  On  the  other  hand,  if  such  persons 
are  convinced,  as  I  am  satisfied  tliey  are,  that  Christ's  words  to 
his  apostles,  "  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  whose  sins  you  shall 
remit,  they  are  remitted,"  mean  what  they  express,  they  must 
know,  that  confession  is  necessary  to  buy  ofi*  overwhelming 
confusion,  as  the  fathers  I  have  quoted  signify,  at  the  great  day 
of  manifestation,  and,  with  this,  never-ending  punishment. 

1  am,  &LG. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XLIL— TO  THE  REV.  ROBERT  CLAYTON. 

ON  INDULGENCES. 

Reverend  sir — 

I  TRUST  you  will  pardon  me  if  I  do  not  send  a  special  answe 
to  the  objections  you  have  stated  against  my  last  letter  to  you, 
because  you  will  find  the  substance  of  them  answered  in  this 
and  my  next  letter,  concerning  indulgences  and  purgatory. 
Bishop  Porteus  reverses  the  proper  order  of  these  subjects,  by 
treating  first  of  the  latter  :  indeed  his  ideas  are  much  confused, 
and  his  knowledge  very  imperfect  concerning  them  both.  This 
prelate  describes  an  indulgence  to  be,  in  the  belief  of  Catholics, 
(without,  however,  giving  any  autiiority  whatever  for  his  de- 
sciiption,)  "  a  transfer  of  the  overplus  of  the  saint's  goodness 
joined  with  the    merits  of  Christ,  &c.,  by  the  pope,  as  head  of 

»  Chilling  \iorth,  Sermo*:  vii  p  409. 


256  LETTER    XLII. 

the  church,  tov/ards  the  remission  of  their  sins,  who  fulfil^  in 
their  life-time,  certain  conditions  appointed  by  him,  or  whose 
friends  will  fulfil  them,  after  their  death."*  lie  speaks  of  it  as 
*'  a  method  of  making  poor  wretches  believe,  that  wickedness 
here  may  become  consistent  with  happiness  hereafter — that  re- 
pentance is  explained  away  or  overlooked  among  other  things 
joined  with  it,  as  saying  so  many  prayers,  and  payi.ig  so  much 
money. "f  Some  of  the  bishop's  friends  have  published  much 
the  same  description  of  indulgences,  but  in  more  perspicuous 
language.  One  of  them,  in  his  attempt  to  show  that  each  pope, 
in  succession,  has  been  the  Man  of  Sin,  or  Antichrist,  says, 
*'  Besides  their  own  personal  vices,  by  their  indulgences,  par- 
dons, and  dispensations,  which  they  claim  a  power  from  Chri&t 
of  granting,  and  which  they  have  sold  in  so  infamous  a  manner, 
they  have  encouraged  all  manner  of  vile  and  wicked  practices. 
They  have  contrived  numberless  methods  of  making  a  holy  life 
useless,  and  to  assure  the  most  abandoned  of  salvation,  provided 
they  will  sufficiently  pay  the  priests  for  absolution."}:  With 
the  same  disregard  of  charity  and  truth,  another  eminent  divine 
speaks  of  the  matter  thus :  "  The  Papists  have  taken  a  notable 
course  to  secure  rnen  from  the  fear  of  hell,  that  of  penances  and 
indulgences. — To  those,  who  will  pay  the  price,  absolutions  are 
to  be  had  for  the  most  abominable  and  not  to  be  named  villa- 
nies,  and  license  also  for  not  a  few  wickednesses. "§  In  treat- 
ing of  a  subject,  the  most  intricate  of  itself  among  the  common 
topics  of  controversy,  and  which  has  been  so  much  confused 
and  perplexed  by  the  misrepresentations  of  our  opponents,  it 
will  be  necessary,  for  giving  you,  reverend  sir,  and  my  other 
Salopian  friends,  a  clear  and  just  idea  of  the  matter,  that  1 
should  advance,  step  by  step,  in  my  explanation  of  it.  In  this 
manner  I  propose  showing  you,  first,  what  an  indulgence  is  not, 
and  next,  what  it  really  is. 

I.  An  indulgence,  then,  never  was  conceived  by  any  Catholic 
Ic  be  a  leave  to  commit  a  sin  of  any  kind,  as  De  Coetlogan, 
Bishop  Fowler,  and  others,  charge  them  with  believing.  The 
first  principles  of  natural  religion  must  convince  every  rational 
being,  that  God  himself  cannot  give  leave  to  commit  sin.  The 
idea  of  such  a  license  takes  away  that  of  his  sanctity,  and  of 
course,  that  of  his  very  being.  II.  No  Catholic  ever  believed 
it  to  be  a  pardon  for  future  sins,  as  Mrs.  Hannah  More,  and  a 
greater  part  of  other  Protestant  writers,  represent  the  matter. 

*  Confut.  p.  53. 

t  P.  54.     Benson  on  the  Man  of  Sin,  repub.  by  Bishop  Watson,  Tratt« 
rol.  V.  p.  273. 
$  Bishop  Fowler's  Design  of  Christianity,  Tracts,  vol.  vi,  p.  382. 
§  Benson  on  the  Man  of  Sin     Collect. 


INDULGENCES.  251 

Tliis  lady  describes  the  Catholics  as  "procuring  indemnity  for 
future  gratifications  by  temporary  abstractions  and  indulgences, 
purchased  at  the  court  of  Rome."*  Some  of  her  fraternity, 
indeed,  have  blasphemously  written,  "Believers  ought  not  ta 
mourn  for  sin,  because  it  was  pardoned  before  it  was  commit- 
tei  :"f  but  every  Catholic  knows,  that  Christ  himself  could  not 
pardon  sin  before  it  was  committed,  because  this  would  imply, 
that  he  forgave  the  sinner  without  repentance.  III.  An  indul- 
gence,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church,  is  not, 
and  does  not  include,  the  pardon  of  any  sin  at  all,  little  or 
great,  past,  present,  or  to  come,  or  the  eternal  punishment  due 
to  it,  as  all  Protestants  suppose.  Hence  if  the  pardon  of  sin  is 
mentioned  in  any  indulgence,  this  means  nothing  more  than  the 
remission  of  the  temporary  punishments  annexed  to  such  sin. 
IV.  We  do  not  believe  an  indulgence  to  imply  any  exemption 
from  repentance,  as  Bishop  Porteus  slanders  us  ;  for  this  is  al- 
ways enjoyed  or  implied  in  the  grant  of  it,  and  is  indispensably  ne- 
cessary for  the  effect  of  every  grace  •.%  nor  from  the  works  of  pen- 
ance, or  other  good  works  ;  because  our  church  teaches,  that  the 
"  life  of  a  Christian  ought  to  be  a  perpetual  penance,"§  and  that 
to  enter  into  life,  we  must  keep  God's  commandments, \\  and  must 
abound  in  every  good  work.^  Whether  an  obligation  of  all  this 
can  be  reconciled  with  the  articles  of  being  "justified  by  faith 
only,"**  and  that  "  works  done  before  grace  partake  of  the  na- 
ture of  sin,"-]"!-  I  do  not  here  inquire.  V.  It  is  inconsistent  with 
our  doctrine  of  inherent  justification^XX  to  believe,  as  the  same 
prelate  charges  us,  that  the  effect  of  an  indulgence  is  to  trans- 
fer "  the  overplus  of  the  goodness,"  or  justification  of  the  saints, 
by  the  ministry  of  the  pope,  to  us  Catholics  on  earth.  Such  an 
absurdity  may  be  more  easily  reconciled  with  the  system  of 
Luther  and  other  Protestants  concerning  imputed  justification  ; 
which,  being  like  a  "  clean,  neat  cloak,  thrown  over  a  filthy 
leper,"§§  may  be  conceived  transferable  from  one  person  to  ano- 
ther.     Lastly,  whereas  the  Council  of  Trent  calls  indulgences 

♦  Strictures  on  Female  Education,  vol.  ii.  p.  239, 

t  Eaton's  Honeycomb  of  Salvation.     See  also  Sir  Richard  Hill's  Lettem 

X  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  vi.  4.  c.  13,  &c.  §  Sess.  xiv.  De  Extr.  Unc. 

II  Sess.  vi.  can.  19. 

IT  Sess.  vi.  cap.  16. — N.  B.  There  are  eight  indulgences  granted  to  the 
Catholics  of  England,  at  the  chief  festivals  in  every  year ;  the  conditions  of 
which  are,  confession  with  sincere  repentance,  the  holy  communion,  alms  to 
die  poor,  (without  distmction  of  their  religion,)  prayers  for  the  church  and 
Btra)'ed  souls,  the  peace  of  Christendom,  and  thr  blessing  of  God  on  this  na. 
tion  ;  finally,  a  disposition  to  hear  the  w^ord  of  God,  and  to  assist  the  sick 
See  Laity^s  Directory,  the  Garden  of  the  Soul^  and  other  Catholic  bDoks  of 
prayer.  **  Art  XI.  of  39  Art.  tt  Art.  XIII 

14  Trid.  Sess.  vi.  can.  11  §§  Becanus  de  Jusiif. 

22* 


858  LETTER    XLII. 

heatedly  Ireamres*  we  hold  that  it  would  be  a  sacrilegious 
crime  in  any  person  whomsoever,  to  be  concerned  in  buying  or 
selling  them.  I  am  far,  however,  reverend  sir,  from  denying 
that  in  lulgonces  have  ever  been  sold  :f — alas,  what  is  so  sacred 
(hat  th3  avarice  of  man  has  not  put  up  for  sale  ! — Christ  him- 
self was  sold,  and  that  by  an  apostle,  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 
1  dc  not  retort  upon  you  the  advertisements  I  frequently  see  in 
'Jie  newspapers,  about  buying  and  selling  benefices,  with  the 
cure  of  souls  annexed  to  them,  in  your  church ;  but  this  I  con- 
tend for,  that  the  Catholic  Church,  so  far  from  sanctioning  this 
detestable  simony,  has  used  her  utmost  pains,  particularly  in  the 
General  Councils  of  Lateran,  Lyons,  Vienne,  and  Trent,  to  pre- 
vent it. 

To  explain,  now,  in  a  clear  and  regular  manner,  what  an  in- 
dulgence is :  I  suppose,  first,  that  no  one  will  deny  that  a  sover- 
eign prince,  in  showing  mercy  to  a  capital  convict,  may  either 
grant  him  a  remission  of  all  punishment,  or  may  leave  him 
subject  to  some  lighter  punishment ;  of  course  he  will  allow 
that  the  Almighty  may  act  in  either  of  these  ways,  with  respect 
to  sinners.  II.  I  equally  suppose  that  no  person  who  is  versed 
in  the  Bible  will  deny,  that  many  instances  occur  there  of  God's 
remitting  the  essential  guilt  of  sin,  and  the  eternal  punishment 
due  to  it,  and  yet  leaving  a  temporary  punishrnent  to  be  endured 
by  the  penitent  sinner.  Thus,  for  example,  the  sentence  of 
spiritual  death  and  everlasting  torments  was  remitted  to  our  first 
father,  upon  his  repentance,  but  not  that  of  corporal  death. 
Thus,  also,  when  God  reversed  his  severe  sentence  against  the 
idolatrous  Israelites,  he  added,  "  Nevertheless,  in  the  day,  when 
I  visit,  I  will  visit  their  sin  upon  them."  Exod.  xxxii.  34. 
Thus,  again,  when  the  inspired  Nathan  said  to  the  model  of 
penitents,  David,  "  The  Lord  hath  put  away  thy  sin,"  he  added, 
"Nevertheless,  the  child  that  is  born  unto  thee  shall  die."  2 
Kings,  alias  Sam.,  xii.  14.  Finally,  when  David's  heart  smote 
him,  after  he  had  numbered  the  people,  the  Lord,  in  pardoning 
him,  offered  him  by  his  prophet.  Gad,  the  choice  of  three  tern- 
poral  punishments,  war,  famine,  or  pestilence.  IbiJ.  xxiv. 
III.  The  Catholic  Church  teaches  that  the  same  is  still  the  common 
course  of  God's  mercy  and  wisdom,  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins 
committed  after  baptism,  since  she  has  formally  condemned  the 
proposition,  that  "  every  penitent  sinner  who,  after  the  grace  of 
justification,  obtains  the  remission  of  his  guilt  and  eternal  pun- 

*  Sess.  xxi.  c.  9. 

t  The  bishop  tells  us  that  he  is  in  possession  of  an  indulgence,  lately 
granted  at  Ronne  for  a  small  sum  of  money  ;  but  he  does  not  say  who  granted 
it.  In  like  manner  he  may  buy  forged  banK  notes  and  eounterleit  coin  in 
London,  very  >'-'^ap,  if  he  pleases. 


INDULGENCES  259 

Ishment,  Dbtalns  also  the  remission  of  all  temporal,  punishment.*'* 
The  essential  guilt  and  eternal  punishment  of  sin,  she  declares, 
can  only  be  expiated  by  the  precious  merits  of  our  Redeemer, 
Jesus  Christ ;  but  a  certain  temporal  punishment  God  reserves 
for  the  penitent  himself  to  endure,  "  lest  the  easiness  of  his  par- 
don should  make  him  careless  about  falling  back  into  sin."-f 
Hence  satisfaction  for  this  temporal  punishment  has  been  insti- 
tuted by  Christ,  as  a  part  of  the  sacrament  of  penance ;  an<rl 
hence  "  a  Christian  life,"  as  the  council  has  said  above,  "  ought 
to  bo  a  penitential  life."  This  council,  at  the  same  time,  de- 
clares, that  this  very  satisfaction  for  temporal  punishment  w 
only  efficacious  through  Jesus  Christ.\  Nevertheless,  as  the 
promise  of  Christ  to  the  apostles,  to  St.  Peter  in  particular,  and 
to  the  successors  of  the  apostles,  is  unlimited :  "  WHATSO- 
EVER you  shall  loose  upon  earth,  shall  be  loosed  also  in 
heaven,"  Matt,  xviii.  18 — xvi.  19  ;  hence  the  church  be- 
lieves and  teaches,  that  her  jurisdiction  extends  to  this  very  sat- 
isfaction, so  as  to  be  able  to  remit  it  wholly  or  partially,  in  cer- 
tain circumstances,  by  what  is  called  an  INDULGENCE. § 
St.  Paul  exercised  this  power  in  behalf  of  the  incestuous  Co- 
rinthian, on  his  conversion,  and  at  the  prayers  of  the  faithful, 
2  Cor.  ii.  10  :  and  the  church  has  claimed  and  exercised  the 
same  power  ever  since  the  time  of  the  apostles  down  to  the  pre- 
sent. II  IV.  Still  this  power,  like  that  of  absolution,  is  not  arbi- 
trary  ;  there  must  be  a  just  cause  for  the  exercise  of  it ;  namely, 
the  greater  good  of  the  penitent,  or  of  the  faithful,  or  of  Chris- 
tendom in  general  :  and  there  must  be  a  certain  proportion  be- 
tween the  punishment  remitted  and  the  good  work  performed. IT 
Hence,  no  one  can  ever  be  sure  that  he  has  gained  the  entire 
benefit  of  an  indulgence,  though  he  has  performed  all  the'con- 
dhions  appointed  for  this  end  ;**  and  hence,  of  course,  the  pastors 
of  the  church  will  have  to  answer  for  it,  if  they  take  upon  them- 
selves  to  grant  indulgences  for  unworthy  or  insufficient  purposes. 
V.  Lastly,  it  is  the  received  doctrine  of  the  church,  that  an  in- 
dulgence,  when  truly  gained,  is  not  barely  a  relaxation  of  the 
canonical  penance  enjoined  by  the  church,  but  also  an  actual 
remission  by  God  himself,  of  the  whole  or  part  of  the  temporal 
punishment  due  to  it  in  his  sight.  The  contrary  opinion,  though 
held  by  some  theologians,  has  been  condemned  by  Leo  X  f  f  anJ 
Pius  VI. :  XX  and,  indeed,  without  the  effect  here  mentioned,  in. 
dulgences  would  not  be  heavenly  treasures,  and  the  use  of  them 

*  Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  vi.  can.  30.      t  Sess.  vi.  cap.  7,  14.     Sess  xiv.  cap.  8. 
X  Ibid.  §  Trid.  Sess.  xxv.     De  Tndulg. 

y  Tertul.  in  Lib.  ad  Martyr,  e.  i.     St.  Cypr.  1.  3.     Epist.  Concil.  i.  Nic 
Ancyr,  &c.  V  Bellarm.  Lib.  i.     De  Indulg.  c.  12.  »»  Ibid 

ft  Art.  19,  inter  Art.  Damn.  Lutheri.  XX  Const.  Auetor  Fid. 


260  LETTER    XLII. 

would  not  he  henejicial,  but  rdiihev  pernicious  to  Christians — con 
trary  to  two  declarations  of  the  last  general  council,  as  Bellar- 
min  well  argues.* 

The  above  explanation  of  an  indulgence,  conformably  to  thn 
doctrine  of  theologians,  the  decrees  of  popes,  and  the  definitiona 
of  councils,  ought  to  silence  the  objections,  and  suppress  the 
sarcasms  of  Protestants  on  this  head :  but  if  it  be  not  sufficient 
for  such  purpose,  I  would  gladly  argue  a  few  points  with  them 
concerning  their  own  indulgences.  Methinks,  reverend  sir,  I 
see  you  start  at  the  mention  of  this,  and  hear  you  ask,  what  Pro- 
testants hold  the  doctrine  of  indulgences?  I  answer  you,  all 
the  leading  sects  of  them,  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  To  be- 
gin with  the  Church  of  England.  One  of  the  first  articles  I  meet 
with  in  its  canons,  regards  indulgences,  and  the  use  that  is  to  be 
made  of  the  money  'paid  for  them.'\  In  the  synod  of  1640,  a 
canon  was  made  which  authorized  the  employment  of  commuta- 
tion-money, namely,  of  such  sums  as  were  paid  for  indulgences 
from  ecclesiastical  penances,  not  only  in  charitable,  but  also  in 
public  uses. 4:  At  this  period  the  established  clergy  were  devo- 
ting all  the  money  they  could  any  way  procure  to  the  war  which 
Charles  I.  was  preparing,  in  defence  of  the  church  and  state, 
against  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland  and  England  ;  so  that,  in 
fact,  the  money  then  raised  by  indulgences  was  employed  in  a 
real  crusade.  It  has  been  before  stated,  that  the  second  offspring 
of  Protestantism,  the  Anabaptists,  claimed  an  indulgence  from 
God  himself,  in  quality  of  his  chosen  ones,  to  despoil  the  impi- 
ous, that  is,  all  the  rest  of  mankind,  of  their  property  ;  while  the 
genuine  Calvinists,  of  all  times,  have  ever  maintained,  that 
Christ  has  set  them  free  from  the  observance  of  every  law,  of 
God  as  well  as  of  man.     Agreeably  to  this  tenet,  Sir  Richard 

*  L.  i.  c.  7,  Prop.  4. 

t  "  Ne  qua  fiat  posihac  solemnis  penitentiae  commutatio  nisi  rationibus, 
gravioribusque  de  causis,  &c.  Deinde  quod  mulcta  ilia  pecuniaria  vel  ii| 
relevam  pauperum,  vel  in  alios  pios  usus  erogetur."  Articuli  pro  Clero,  A 
D,  1584,  Sparrow,  p.  194.  The  next  article  is,  "Do  moderandis  quibusdam 
indulgentiis  pro  cclebratione  matrimonii,"  &,c.,  p.  195.  These  indulgence! 
were  renewed  under  the  same  titles,  in  the  synod  held  in  London  in  1597 
Sparrow,  pp.  248,  252. 

i  "  That  no  chancellor,  commissary,  or  official,  shall  have  power  to  com- 
mute any  penance,  in  whole  or  in  part ;  but  either  together  with  the  biahop, 
&c.,  that  h3  shall  give  a  full  and  just  account  of  such  commutations  to  the 
bishop,  who  shall  see  that  all  such  moneys  shall  be  disposed  of  for  charitable 
and  public  uses,  according  to  law — saving  always  to  ecclesiastical  officera 
their  due  and  accustomable  fees."  Canon  14.  Sparrow,  p.  3G8.  In  tlie 
remonstrance  of  grievances,  presented  by  a  committee  of  the  Irish  Pariia. 
mentto  Charles  I.,  one  of  them  was,  that  "several  bishops  received  grea/ 
sums  of  money /or  commutation  of  penance,  (that  is,  for  indulgences.)  whick 
they  converted  to  their  own  use."  Commons' Jour,  quoted  by  Curry  vol  i 
jw  169. 


INDULGENCES.  201 

Hill  says:  "It  is  a  most  pernicious  error  of  the  schooimen  ta 
distinguish  sins  according  to  the  fact,  and  not  according  to  the 
person."*  With  respect  to  Patriarch  Luther,  it  is  notorious  that 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  granting  indulgences,  of  various  kinds,  to 
himself  and  his  disciples.  Thus,  for  example,  he  dispensed 
with  himself  and  Catharine  Boren,  from  their  vows  of  a  religious 
life,  and  particularly  that  of  celibacy,  and  even  preachec  up 
adultery  in  his  public  sermons. f  In  like  manner  he  published 
bulls,  authorizing  the  robbery  of  bishops  and  bishopricks,  and 
the  murder  of  popes  and  cardinals.  But  the  most  celebrated  of 
his  indulgences  is  that  which,  in  conjunction  with  Bucer  and 
Melancthon,  he  granted  to  Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  to  marry 
a  second  wife,  his  former  being  living,  in  consideration,  for  so  it 
is  stated,  of  his  protection  of  Protestantism.  J  But  if  any  credit 
is  due  to  this  same  Bucer,  who,  for  his  learning,  was  invited  by 
Cranmer  and  the  Duke  of  Somerset  into  England,  and  made  the 
Divinity  Professor  of  Cambridge,  the  whole  business  of  the  pre- 
tended Reformation  was  an  indulgence  for  libertinism.  His 
words  are  these :  "  The  greater  part  of  the  people  seem  only 
to  have  embraced  the  gospel,  in  order  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of 
discipline  and  the  obligation  of  fasting,  penance,  &c.,  which  lay 
upon  them  in  Popery,  and  to  live  at  their  pleasure,  enjoying 
their  lusts  and  lawless  appetites  without  control.  Hence  they 
lent  a  willing  ear  to  the  doctrine,  that  we  are  saved  by  faith 
alone,  and  not  by  good  works,  having  no  relish  for  them."§ 

I  am  yours,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XLIIL— TO  THE  REV.  ROBERT  CLAYTON,  M.  A 

ON  PURGATORY,  AND  PRAYERS  FOR  THE  DEAD. 

Reverend  sir — 

In  the  natural  order  of  our  controversies,  this  is  the  proper 
place  to  treat  of  purgatory  and  prayers  for  the  dead.  On  this 
subject.  Bishop  Porteus  begins  with  saying,  "  There  is  no 
Sciipture  proof  of  the  existence  of  purgatory  ;  heaven  and  hell 
we  read  of  perpetually  in  the  Bible  ;  but  purgatory  we  never 
meet  wiUi  ;  though  surely,  if  there  be  such  a  place,  Christ  and 
.lis  apostles  would  not  have  concealed  it  from  us."||     I  might  ex- 

*  Fletcher's  Checks,  vol.  iii. 

t  "  Si  nolit  Domina,  veniat  ancilla,"  &c.     Serm  de  Matrim.  t.  v. 

I  This  infamous  indulgence,  with  the  deeds  belonging  to  it,  was  i)ublished 
from  the  original  by  permi*ssion  of  a  descendant  of  the  landgrave,  and  repub 
ished  bj'  Bossuet.     Variat.  book  vi. 

§  Bucer,  D<;  Regn.  Christ.  1.  i.  c.  4.  i|  Confat.  p.  48 


262  LETTER    XLIII. 

pose  the  -nconclusiveness  of  this  argument  by  the  following  pa. 
rallel  one :  The  Scripture  nowhere  commands  us  to  keep  the 
first  day  of  the  week  holy ;  we  perpetually  read  of  sanctifying 
the  Sabbath  or  Saturday,  but  never  meet  with  the  Sunday  as  a 
day  of  obligation  ;  though,  if  there  be  such  an  obligation,  Chrift 
and  his  apostles  would  not  have  concealed  it  from  us  !  I  might 
likewise  answer,  with  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  that  the  inspirea 
epistles,  (and  I  may  add  the  gospels  also,)  •'  are  not  to  be  con- 
sidered  as  regular  treatises  upon  the  Christian  religion."*  But 
I  meet  the  objection  in  front,  by  saying,  first,  that  the  apostles  did 
teach  their  converts  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  among  their  other 
doctrines,  as  St.  Chrysostom  testifies,  and  the  tradition  of  the 
church  proves ;  secondly,  that  the  same  is  demonstratively 
evinced  from  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament. 

To  begin  with  the  Old  Testament :  I  claim  a  right  of  con- 
sidering the  two  first  books  of  Machabees,  as  an  integral  part 
of  them,  because  the  Catholic  Church  so  considers  them,)' 
from  whose  tradition,  and  not  from  that  of  the  Jews,  as  St. 
Augustin  signifies, J  our  sacred  canon  is  to  be  formed.  Now 
in  the  second  of  these  books,  it  is  related  that  the  pious  gen- 
eral, Judas  Machabeus,  sent  12,000  drachmas  to  Jerusalem, 
for  sacrifices,  to  be  offered  for  his  soldiers,  slain  in  battle  ;  after 
which  narration,  the  inspired  writer  concludes  thus ;  "  It  is 
therefore  a  holy  and  a  wholesome  thought  to  pray  for  the  dead, 
that  they  may  be  loosed  from  their  sins." — 2  Mach.  xii.  46.  I 
need  not  point  out  the  inseparable  connection  there  is  between 
the  practice  of  praying  for  the  dead,  and  the  belief  of  an  in- 
termediate state  of  souls  ;  since  it  is  evidently  needless  to  pray 
for  the  saints  in  heaven,  and  useless  to  pray  for  the  reprobate 
in  hell.  But  even  Protestants,  who  do  not  receive  the  Books  of 
Machabees  as  canonical  Scripture,  venerate  them  as  authentic 
and  holy  records  ;  as  such,  then,  they  bear  conclusive  testimony 
of  the  belief  of  God's  people,  on  this  head,  150  years  before 
Christ.  That  the  Jews  were  in  the  habit  of  practising  some 
religious  rites  for  the  relief  of  the  departed,  at  the  beginning 
of  Christianity,  is  clear  from  St.  Paul's  first  Epistle  to  the  Co. 
rinthians,  where  he  mentions  them,  without  any  censure  of  them  ;§ 
and  that  this  people  continue  to  pray  for  their  deceased  brethren, 
at  the  present  time,  may  be  learned  from  any  living  Jew. 

To  oDme  now  to  the  New  Testament:  What  place,  I  ask, 
must  that  be,  which  our  Saviour  calls  "  Abraham's  bo«om," 
where  the  soul  of  Lazarus  reposed,  Luke,  xvi.  22,  among  the 

»  Elem.  of  Theol.  vol.  i.  p.  277.  t  Concil.  Cart.  jii.  St.  Cyp.  St.  Aug. 

Innoc.  I.  Geias,  &c.  t  Lib.  18  De.  Civ.  Dei. 

f)  '*  Else  what  shall  they  do  who  are  baptized  for  the  dead,  if  the  deod  tiM 
not  all  ?     Why  arc  they  then  baptized  for  them  ?"     1  Cor.  x' .  29. 


PITRGATOR/.  203 

Other  just  souls,  till  he  by  his  sacred  passion  paid  theii  .*ansom  ? 
Not  heaven,  otherwise  Dives  would  have  addressed  himself  to 
God,  instead  of  \braham  ;  but  evidently  a  middle  state,  as  St. 
Augustin  teaches.*  Again,  of  what  pl-ace  is  it  that  St.  Petei 
speaks,  where  he  says,  "  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  being  put  to 
death  in  the  flesh,  but  enlivened  in  the  spirit ;  in  which  also 
coming,  he  preached  to  those  spirits  that  were  in  prison  ?"  1  Pet, 
iii.  19.  It  is  evidently  the  same  which  is  mentioned  in  the 
Apostles'  Creed  :  He  descended  into  hell — not  the  hell  of  tte 
damned,  to  suffer  their  torments,  as  the  blasphemer,  Calvin, 
assertSjf  but  the  prison  above-mentioned,  or  Abraham's  bosom  ; 
in  short,  a  middle  state.  It  is  of  this  prison,  according  to  the 
holy  fathers,  J  our  blessed  Master  speaks,  where  he  says  :  "  1  tell 
thee,  thou  shalt  not  depart  thence  till  thou  hast  paid  the  very 
last  mite."  Luke,  xii.  59. — Lastly,  what  other  sense  can  that 
passage  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  bear,  than  that 
which  the  holy  fathers  affix  to  it,§  where  the  apostle  says,  "  The 
day  of  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed  by  fire,  and  the  fire  shall  try 
every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any  man's  works  abide, 
he  shall  receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  be  burnt,  he 
shall  suffer  loss  ;  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved,  yet  so  as  by 
fire."  1  Cor.  iii.  13,  15.  The  prelate's  diversified  attempts 
to  explain  away  these  scriptural  proofs  of  purgatory,  are  really 
too  feeble  and  inconsistent  to  merit  being  even  mentioned.  I 
might  here  add,  as  a  further  proof,  the  denunciation  of  Christ 
concerning  blasphemy  against  the  Hol:y  Ghost,  namely,  that  this 
sin  "  shall  not  be  forgiven,  either  in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to 
come,"  Mat.  xii.  32;  which  words  clearly  imply  that  some  sins 
are  forgiven  in  the  world  to  come,  as  the  ancient  fathers  show;|] 
but  I  hasten  to  the  proofs  of  this  doctrine  from  tradition,  on  whicli 
head  the  prelate  is  so  ill  advised  as  to  challenge  Catliolics. 

II.  Bishop  Porteus  then  advances,  that  "  purgatory,  in  the 
present  popish  sense,  was  not  heard  of  for  400  years  after  Christ, 
nor  universally  received  for  1000  years,  nor  almost  in  any  other 
church  than  that  of  Rome  to  this  day."^  Here  are  no  less  than 
three  egregious  falsities,  which  I  proceed  to  show ;  after  stating 
what  his  wardship  seems  not  to  know,  namely,  that  all  which  ia 
necessarj  to  be  believed  on  this  subject  by  Catholics,  is  contain- 

»  De  Civit.  Dei,  1  xv.  c.  20.  t  Inst.  1.  ii.  c    16. 

t  Tertul.  St.  Cypr.  Origen,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Jerom,  &c. 

§  Origen,  Horn.  14  in  Levit.  &c.  St.  Ambrose,  in  Ps.  118.  St.  .Terom,  1 
2,  contra  Jorin.  St.  Aug.  in  Ps.  37,  where  he  prays  thus  :  "Purify  me,  O 
Lord,  in  this  ife,  that  I  may  not  need  the  chastening  fire  of  those  who  will 
be  saved,  yei  so  as  by  Hre." 

II  St.  Aiig  De  Civit'.  Dei,  1. 21,  c.  24.  St.  Greg.  1  4.  Dialog.  Bed.  w  ««p. 
3  Marc.  IT  P.  50 


264  LETTER    XLIII. 

ed  in  the  following  brief  declaration  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
*•  Tliere  is  a  purgatory,  and  the  souls  detained  there  are  helped 
by  the  prayers  of  the  faithful,  and  particularly  by  the  accept- 
able sacrifice  of  the  altar."*  St.  Chrysostom,  the  light  of  the 
eastern  church,  flourished  within  300  years  of  the  age  of  the 
apostles,  and  must  be  admitted  as  an  unexceptionable  witness 
of  tlieir  doctrine  and  practice.  Now  he  writes  as  follows  :  "  It 
was  not  without  good  reason  ORDAINED  BY  THE  APOS- 
TLES, that  mention  shfDuld  be  made  of  the  dead  in  the  tremen- 
oous  mysteries,  because  they  knew  well  that  these  would  receive 
great  benefit  from  it."f  TertuUian,  who  lived  in  the  age  next 
to  that  of  the  apostles,  speaking  of  a  pious  widow,  says :  "  She 
prays  for  the  soul  of  her  husband,  and  begs  refreshment:]"  for 
him."  Similar  testimonies  of  St.  Cyprian,  in  the  following  age, 
are  numerous.  I  shall  satisfy  myself  with  quoting  one  of  them  ; 
where  describing  the  difference  between  some  souls,  which  are 
Immediately  admitted  into  heaven,  and  others,  which  are  detain, 
^d  in  purgatory,  he  says,  "  It  is  one  thing  to  be  waiting  for  par- 
Ion  ;  another  to  attain  to  glory  :  One  thing  to  be  sent  to  pris- 
on, not  to  go  from  thence  till  the  last  farthing  is  paid;  another 
to  receive  immediately  the  reward  of  faith  and  virtue  :  One 
thing  to  suffer  lengthened  torments  for  sin,  and  to  be  chastised 
and  purified  for  a  long  time  in  that  fire  ;  another  to  have  cleans- 
ed away  all  sin  by  sufrering,"§  namely,  by  martyrdom.  It 
would  take  up  too  much  time  to  quote  authorities  on  this  subject 
from  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Eusebius,  St.  Epiphanius,  St.  Am- 
brose,  St.  Jerom,  St.  Augustin,  and  several  other  ancient  fathers 
and  writers,  who  demonstrate,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  church 
was  the  same  that  it  is  now,  not  only  within  a  thousand,  but  also 
within  400  years  from  the  time  of  Christ,  with  respect  both  to 
prayers  for  the  dead,  and  an  intermediate  state,  which  we  call 
purgatory.  How  express  is  the  authority  of  the  last-named 
father,  in  particular,  where  he  says  and  repeats  :  "  Through  the 
prayers  and  sacrifices  of  the  church  and  alms-deeds,  God  deals 
more  mercifully  with  the  departed  than  their  sins  deserve  !"|| 
How  affecting  is  this  saint's  account  of  the  death  of  his  mother, 
St.  Monica,  when  she  entreated  him  to  remember  her  soul  at  the 
altar,  and  when,  after  her  decease,  he  performed  this  duty,  in 
order,  as  he  declares,  "  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  her  sins  !"ir  As 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  oriental  churches,  which  the  bishop  signi- 
fies is  conformable  to  that  of  his  own,  I  affirm,  as  a  laoi  which 
h9s  been  demonstrated,**  that  there  is  not  of  them  which  agrees 

*  Sess.  XXV.  De.  Purg.  t  In  cap.  i.  Philip.  Horn.  3. 

t  L.  De  Monogam.  c.  10.  §  S.  Cypr.  1.  4.  ep.  2. 

II  Serm.  172.  Enchirid.  cap.  109,  110.         V  Confess.  1.  ix.  c.  13. 

♦*  See  Confession  of  the  different  Oriental  churches  in  the  Perpetuity,  &c 


PURGATORY.  2ft5 

with  it,  nor  one  of  them  which  does  not  agree  with  the  Catholic 
Church,  in  the  only  two  points  defined  by  her,  namely,  as  to 
there  being  a  middle  state,  which  we  call  purgatory,  and  as  to 
the  souls  detained  in  it  being  helped  by  the  prayers  of  the  liv- 
uig  faithful.  True  it  is,  they  do  not  generally  believe,  that 
these  souls  are  punished  by  a  material  fire ;  but  neither  does  our 
church  require  a  belief  of  this  opinion  ;  and,  accordingly,  she 
made  a  union  with  the  Greeks  in  the  Council  of  Florence,  on 
tlieir  barely  confessing  and  subscribing  the  aforesaid  two  articles. 
III.  I  should  do  an  injury,  reverend  sir,  to  my  cause,  were  I 
to  pass  over  the  concessions  of  eminent  Protestant  prelates,  and 
other  writers,  on  the  matter  in  debate.  On  some  occasions 
Luther  admits  of  purgatory,  as  an  article  founded  on  Scripture." 
Melancthon  confesses  that  the  ancients  prayed  for  the  dead,  and 
says  that  the  Lutherans  do  not  find  fault  with  it.f  Calvin  in- 
timates, that  the  souls  of  all  the  just  are  detained  in  Abraham's 
bosom  till  the  day  of  judgment. J  In  the  first  Liturgy  of  the 
Church  of  England,  which  was  drawn  up  by  Cranmer  and  Rid- 
ley, and  declared  by  Act  of  Parliament  to  have  been  framed 
by  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  there  is  an  express  prayer  for 
the  departed,  that  "  God  would  grant  them  mercy  and  everlast- 
mg  peace. "§  It  can  be  shown  that  the  following  bishops  of  your 
church  believed  that  the  dead  ought  to  be  prayed  for  :  Andrews, 
Usher,  Montague,  Taylor,  Forbes,  Sheldon,  Barrow  of  St. 
Asaph's,  and  Blandford.||  To  these  I  may  add  the  religious 
Dr.  Johnson,  whose  published  Meditations  prove,  that  he  con 
stantly  prayed  for  his  deceased  wife.  But  what  need  is  there 
of  more  words  on  the  subject,  when  it  is  clear  that  modern  Pro- 
testants, in  shutting  up  the  Catholic  purgatory  for  imperfect  just 
souls,  have  opened  another  general  one  for  them,  and  all  the 
wicked  of  every  sort  whatsoever!  It  is  well  known  that  the  dis- 
ciples of  Calvin,  at  Geneva,  and,  perhaps,  everywhere  else, 
instead  of  adhering  to  his  doctrine,  in  condemning  mortals  to 
eternal  torments,  without  any  fault  on  their  part,  now  hold  that 
the  most  confirmed  in  guilt  and  the  finally  impenitent  shall,  in 
the  end,  be  saved  :ir  thus  establishing,  as  Fletcher  of  Madeley 
cbserves,  "  a  general  purgatory."**  A  late  celebrated  theolo- 
gical, as  well  as  philosophical  writer  of  our  own  country.  Dr. 
Priestley,  being  on  his  death-bed,  called  for  Simpson's  work  on 
the  duration  of  future  punishment,  which   he  recommended  in 

»  Assertiones,  Art.  37.  Disp.  Leipsic.  t  Apolog.  Conf.  Aug. 

t  Inst.  1.  iii.  c.  5.      §  See  the  form  in  Collier's  Ecc.  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  257. 

II  Collier's  Hist. — N.  B.  The  present  Bishop  of  Exoter,  in  a  sermon  ju3{ 
published,  prays  for  the  soul  of  our  Princess  Charlottt ,  "  as  far  as  this  is  law- 
ful and  profitable." 

T  Encyclo.  Art.  Geneva.  **  Checks  to  Antinom.  yo]  4. 

23 


268  LETTER   XLIII. 

*nese  terms:  "It  contains  my  sentiments;  we  shall  all  meet 
finally  :  we  only  require  different  degrees  of  discipline,  suited 
to  our  different  tempers,  to  prepare  us  for  final  happiness.'** 
Heie  again  is  a  general  Protestant  purgatory  :  and  why  should 
Satan  and  his  crew  be  denied  the  benefit  of  it  ?  But  to  confine 
myself  to  emir'^nt  divines  of  the  Established  Church.  One  of 
its  celebrated  preachers,  who,  of  course,  "  never  mentions  hell 
to  ears  polite,"  expresses  his  wish,  "  to  banish  the  subject  of 
everlasting  punishment  from  all  pulpits,  as  containing  a  doctrine, 
at  3nce  improper,  and  uncertain  ;"f  which  sentiment  is  applaud- 
ed by  another  eminent  divine,  who  reviews  that  sermon  in  the 
British  Critic. if  Another  modern  divine  censures  "  the  threat 
of  eternal  perdition  as  a  cause  of  infidelity. "§  The  renowned 
Dr.  Paley,  (but  here  we  are  getting  into  quite  novel  systems  of 
theology,  which  will  force  a  smile  from  its  old  students,  notwith- 
standing the  awfulness  of  the  subject,)  Dr.  Paley,  I  say,  so  far 
softens  the  punishment  of  the  infernal  regions,  as  to  suppose  that, 
"  There  may  be  very  little  to  choose  between  the  condition  of 
some  who  are  in  hell,  and  others  who  are  in  heaven  !"||  In  the 
same  liberal  spirit  the  Cambridge  Professor  of  Divinity  teaches, 
that  "  God's  wrath  and  damnation  are  more  terrible  in  the  sound 
than  in  the  sense  !1F  and  that  being  damned  does  not  imply  any 
fixed  degree  of  evil."**  In  another  part  of  his  Lectures,  he  ex- 
presses his  hope,  and  quotes  Dr.  Hartley,  as  expressing  the  same, 
"  that  all  men  will  be  ultimately  happy,  when  punishment  has 
done  its  work  in  reforming  principles  and  conduct. "ff  If  this 
sentiment  be  not  sufficiently  explicit  in  favor  of  purgatory,  take 
the  following  from  a  passage  in  which  he  is  directly  lecturing 
on  the  subject.  "  With  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  purgatory, 
though  it  may  not  be  founded  either  in  reason  or  in  Scripture, 
it  is  not  unnatural.  Who  can  bear  the  thought  of  dwelling  in 
everlasting  torments  ? — Yet  who  can  say  that  a  God,  everlast- 
ingly just,  will  not  inflict  them?  The  mind  of  man  seeks  for 
some  resource  :  it  finds  one  only  ;  in  coni?eiving  that  some  tem- 
porary punishment,  after  death,  may  purify  the  soul  from  \\% 
moral  pollutions,  and  make  it  at  least  acceptable,  even  to  a 
Deity  infinitely  pure.":j:J 

IV.  Bishop  Porteus  intimates,  that  the  doctrine  of  a  middU, 
Bta:e  of  souls  was  borrowed  from  pagaM  fable  and  philosophy. 

»  See  Edinb.  Review,  Oct.  1806.  t  Sermons  by  the  Rev.  W.  Gilpin, 

Preb.  of  Sarum.  %  British  Critic,  Jan.  1802.  §  Rev.  Mr.  Poiwhele'i 

Let.  to  Dr.  Hawker         ||  Moral  and  Polit.  Philos.      V  Lect.  vol.  iii.  p.  154 

**  Lect.  vol.  iii.  p   154 

tt  Vol.  ii.  p.  390.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  doctrine  of  the  final  sal. 
▼ation  of  the  wicked  is  expressly  condemrcd  in  the  42d  Article  of  th« 
Church  of  England.     A.  D.  1552  tt  Vol.  iv.  p.  112. 


PURGATORY.  267 

in  answer  to  this;,  I  say,  that  if  Plato,*  Virgil,  and  other  hea- 
thens, ancient  and  modern,  as  likewise  Mahomet  and  his  disci- 
j)les,  together  with  the  Protestant  writers  quoted  above,  have 
embraced  this  doctrine,  it  only  shows  how  conformable  it  is  to 
the  dictates  of  natural  religion.  I  have  proved,  by  various  ar- 
guments, that  a  temporary  punishment  generally  remains  due 
to  sin,  after  the  guilt  and  eternal  punishment  due  to  it  have 
been  remitted.  Again,  we  know  from  Scripture,  that  even  the 
just  man  falls  seven  times,  Prov.  xxiv.  17,  and  that  men  must 
give  an  account  of  every  idle  word  that  they  speak.  Matt.  xii.  36. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  are  conscious  that  there  is  not  an  instant 
of  our  life,  in  which  this  may  not  suddenly  terminate,  without 
the  possibility  of  our  calling  upon  God  for  mercy.  What,  then, 
I  ask,  will  become  of  souls  which  are  surprised  in  either  of 
those  predicaments  ?  We  are  sure,  from  Scripture  and  reason, 
that  nothing  defiled  shall  enter  heaven.  Rev,  xxi.  27 ;  will  then 
our  just  and  merciful  Judge  make  no  distinction  in  guiltiness,  as 
Bishop  Fowler  and  other  rigid  Protestants  maintain  ?f  Will  he 
condemn  to  the  same  eternal  punishment  the  poor  child  who  has 
died  under  the  guilt  of  a  lie  of  excuse,  and  the  abandoned 
wretch  who  has  died  in  the  act  of  murdering  his  father  ?  To 
say  that  he  v/ill,  is  so  monstrous  a  doctrine  in  itself,  and  so  con- 
trary to  Scripture,  which  declares  that  God  will  render  to  every 
man  according  to  his  deeds,  Rom.  ii.  6,  that  it  seems  to  be  uni- 
versally exploded. f  The  evident  consequence  of  this  is,  that 
there  are  some  venial  or  pardonable  sins,  for  the  expiation  of 
which,  as  well  as  for  the  temporary  punishment  due  to  othe.T 
sins,  a  place  of  temporary  punishment  is  provided  in  the  next 
life  ;  where,  however,  the  souls  detained  may  be  relieved  by  the 
prayers,  alms,  and  sacrifices  of  the  faithful  here  on  earth.  O  \ 
how  consoling  are  the  belief  and  practice  of  Catholics  in  this 
matter,  compared  with  those  of  Protestants !  The  latter  show 
their  regard  for  their  departed  friends  in  costly  pomp  and 
feathered  pageantry  ;  while  their  burial  service  is  a  cold  dis. 
consolate  ceremony  ;  and  as  to  any  further  communication  Avitfi 
;he  deceased,  when  the  grave  closes  on  their  remains,  they  do 
not  so  much  as  imagine  any.  On  the  other  hand,  we  Catholics 
know,  that  death  itself  cannot  dissolve  the  communion  of  saints, 
which  subsists  in  our  church,  nor  prevent  an  intercourse  of 
Kind,  and  often  beneficial  offices,  between  us  and  our  departed 
friends.  Oftentimes  we  can  help  them  more  effectually,  in  the 
other  world,  by  our  prayers,  our  sacrifices,  our  alms-deeds,  than 
we  could  in  this  by  any  temporary  benefits  we  could  bestow 

*  Plato  in  Georgia,  Virgil's  iEneid,  I.  G,  the  Koran. 

t  Calvin,  1.  iii.  c.  12.     Fowler  in  Watson's  Tracts,  vol.  %\.  p.  363. 

I  See  Dr.  Hef,  vol.  iii.  pp.  384,  451,  453. 


268  LETTER    XLIT. 

upon  them.  Hence  we  are  inst  ucted  to  cele'brate  the  obsequies 
of  the  dead  oy  all  such  good  works ;  and,  accordingly,  our  fu- 
neral  service  consists  of  psalms  and  prayers,  offered  up  for  their 
repose  and  eternal  felicity.  These  acts  of  devotion  pious  Catho- 
lics perform  for  the  deceased,  who  were  near  and  dear  to  them,, 
and  indeed  for  the  dead  in  general,  every  day,  but  particularly 
on  the  respective  anniversaries  of  the  deceased.  Such  benefits, 
we  are  assured,  will  be  paid  with  rich  interest,  by  those  souls, 
when  they  attain  to  that  bliss,  to  which  we  shall  have  contrib- 
uted ;  and  if  they  should  not  be  in  a  condition  to  help  us,  the 
God  of  mercy,  at  least,  will  abundantly  reward  our  charity. 
On  the  other  hand,  what  a  comfort  and  support  must  it  be  to  our 
minds,  when  our  turn  comes  to  descend  into  the  grave,  to  re- 
flect that  we  shall  continue  to  live  in  the  constant  thoughts  and 
daily  devotions  of  our  Catholic  relatives  and  friends ! 

I  am,  yours,  &c. 

John  Milner 


LETTER  XLIV.— TO  THE  REV.  ROBERT  CLAYTON,  M.A. 

EXTREME  UNCTION. 

Reverend  sir — 

The  Council  of  Trent  terms  the  sacrament  of  extreme  unc- 
tion the  consummation  of  penance  ;  and,  therefore,  as  Bishop 
Porteus  makes  this  the  subject  of  a  charge  against  our  church, 
here  is  the  proper  place  for  me  to  answer  it.  His  lordship 
writes  a  long  chapter  upon  it,  because  his  business  is  to  gloss 
over  the  clear  testimony  which  the  apostle  St.  James  bears  to 
the  reality  of  this  sacrament ;  in  return,  I  shall  write  a  short 
letter,  in  refutation  of  his  chapter,  because  I  have  little  more  to 
do  than  to  cite  that  testimony,  as  it  stands  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. It  is  as  follows  :  "  Is  any  man  sick  among  you,  let  him 
bring  in  the  priests  of  the  church,  and  let  them  pray  over  him, 
anointing  him  with  oil,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  the 
prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick  man  ;  and  the  Lord  shall 
raise  him  up ;  and  if  he  be  in  sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven  him." 
James,  v.  14,  15.  Here  we  see  all  that  is  requisite,  according 
to  the  English  Protestant  Catechism,  to  constitute  a  sacrament;* 
for  there  "  is  an  outward  visible  sign,"  namely,  the  anointing 
with  oil ;  there  "  is  an  inward  spiritual  grace  given  unto  us," 
namely,  the  saving  of  the  sick,  and  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins. 
Lastly,  there  is  "  the  ordination  of  Christ,  as  the  means  by 
which  the  same  is  received  :"  unless  the  bishop  chooses  to  allege 

•  In  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 


EXTREME    UNCTIOIT.  26Q 

tiat  the  holy  apostle  fabricated  a  sacrament,  or  means  of  grace, 
without  any  authority  for  this  purpose  from  his  heavenly  Master. 
What  then  does  his  lordship  say,  in  opposition  to  this  divine 
warrant  for  our  sacrament  ?  He  says,  that  the  anointing  of  the 
sick  by  elders,  or  old  men,  was  the  appointed  method  of  miracu- 
lously curing  them  in  primitive  times  :  which  would  imply,  that 
no  Christian  died  in  those  times,  except  when  either  oil  or  old 
men  were  not  to  be  met  with  !  He  adds,  that  the  forgiveness 
of  the  sick  man's  sins  means  the  cures  of  his  corporal  diseases!* 
And  after  all  this,  he  boasts  of  building  his  religion  on  mere 
Scripture,  in  its  plain,  unglossed  meaning. -j-  In  reading  this,  I 
own  I  cannot  help  revolving  in  my  mind,  the  above  quoted  pro- 
fane parody  of  Luther,  on  the  first  words  of  Scripture,  in  which 
he  ridicules  the  distortion  of  it  by  many  Protestants  of  his  time.  J 
With  the  same  confidence,  his  lordship  adds,  "  Our  laying  aside 
a  ceremony  (the  anointing)  which  has  long  been  useless,  &c., 
can  be  no  loss,  while  every  thing  that  is  truly  valuable  in  St. 
James's  direction,  is  preserved  in  our  office  for  visiting  the  sick."§ 
Exactly  in  this  manner  our  friends  the  Quakers  undertake  to 
prove,  that  in  laying  aside  the  ceremony  of  washing  catechu- 
mens with  water,  they  "  have  preserved  every  thing  that  is 
truly  valuable  in  the  sacrament  of  baptism  !"||  But  where  shall 
we  find  an  end  of  the  inconsistencies  and  impieties  of  deluded 
Christians,  who  refuse  to  hear  that  church  which  Christ  has  ap- 
pointed to  explain  to  them  the  truths  of  religion  ? 

There  is  not  more  truth  in  the  prelate's  assertion,  that  there 
is  no  mention  of  anointing  with  oil,  among  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, except  in  miraculous  cures,  during  the  first  600  years ; 
for  the  celebrated  Origen,  who  was  born  in  the  age  next  to  that 
of  the  apostles,  after  speaking  of  an  humble  confession  of  sins, 
as  a  means  of  obtaining  their  pardon,  adds  to  it,  the  anointing 
with  oil,  prescribed  by  St.  James. IT  St.  Chrysostom,  who  lived 
in  the  fourth  century,  speaking  of  the  power  of  priests,  in  re- 
mitting sin,  says,  "  they  exert  it  when  they  are  called  in  to  per- 
form the  rite  mentioned  by  St.  James,"  &c.**  The  testimony  of 
Pope  Innocent  t.,  in  the  same  age,  is  so  express  as  to  the  war- 
rant for  this  sacrament,  the  matter,  the  minister,  and  the  sub- 
jects of  it  ;ff  that  though  the  bishop  alluded  to  the  testimony,  hfi 
does  not  choose  to  grapple  with  it,  or  even  to  quote  it.  JJ  I  pass 
over  the  irrefragable  authorities  of  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria, 
Victor  of  Antioch,  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  and  our  venerable 

*  Confut.  p.  59.  t  P.  69. 

t  In  principio  Deus  creavit  ccelum  et  terrain  :  '  In  the  beginning  thi 
euckoo  devoured  the  sparrow  and  its  feathers."  §  Confut.  p.  61. 

II  Barclay's  Apology,  Prop.  12.     V  Horn  ii.  in  Levit.     **  DeSacerd.  l.iii 
ft  ^oist.  ad  Decent.  Eigub.  U  Confut.  p.  61 

23* 


870  LETTER    XLV. 

Bede,  in  oider  once  more  to  recur  to  that  short  but  convincing 
proof,  which  I  have  already  adduced  on  other  contested  points, 
that  the  Catholic  Church  has  not  invented  those  sacraments  and 
doctrines  in  latter  ages,  which  Protestants  assert  were  unknown 
\n  the  primitive  ages.  Let  it  then  be  remembered,  that  the  Nes- 
torians  broke  off  from  the  communion  of  the  church  in  431,  and 
the  Eutychians  in  451 ;  that  these  rival  sects  exist,  in  nume- 
rous congregations,  throughout  the  East,  at  the  present  day  ; 
and  that  they,  as  well  as  the  Greeks,  Armenians,  &c.,  main- 
tain, in  belief  and  practice,  extreme  unction,  as  one  of  the  seven 
sacraments.  Nothing  can  so  satisfactorily  vindicate  our  church 
from  the  charge  of  imposition  or  innovation,  in  the  particulars 
mentioned,  as  these  facts  do.  How  much  more  consistently  has 
the  impious  friar,  Martin  Luther,  acted,  in  denying  at  once  the 
authority  of  St.  James's  epistle,  and  condemning  it  as  a  "  chaffy 
composition,  and  unworthy  an  apostle,"*  than  Bishop  Porteus 
and  his  confederates  do,  who  attempt  to  explain  away  the  clear 
proofs  of  extreme  unction  contained  in  that  epistle !  In  the 
mean  time,  in  spite  of  every  insult  offered  to  the  divine  institu- 
tions, and  every  uncharitable  reflection  cast  on  themselves  or 
their  religious  practices,  pious  Catholics  will  continue  to  receive, 
in  the  time  of  man's  greatest  need,  that  inestimable  consolation 
and  grace,  which  this  and  the  other  helps  of  their  church,  were 
provided  by  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  to  impart. — I  am,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XLV.—TO  THE  REV.  ROBERT  CLAYTON,  M.  A 

WHETHER  THE  POPE  BE  ANTICHRIST. 

Reverend  sir — 

There  remains  but  one  more  question  of  doctrine  to  be  dis- 
cussed between  me  and  your  favorite  controvertist.  Bishop  Por- 
teus, which  is  concerning  the  character  and  power  of  the  pope; 
and  this  he  compresses  into  a  narrow  compass,  among  a  '<  ariety 
of  miscellaneous  matters,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  book.  How- 
ever, as  it  is  a  doctrine  of  first-rate  importance,  against  which  I 
make  no  doubt  but  several  of  your  Salopian  society  have  been 
early  and  bitterly  prejudiced,  I  propose  to  treat  it  at  some 
length,  and  in  a  regular  way.  To  do  this,  I  must  begin  with 
the  inquiry,  whether  the  pope  be  really  and  truly,  "  The  Man 
of  Sin,  and  the  Son  of  Perdition,"  described  by,  St.  Paul,  2 
Thess.  ii.  1,  10 ;  in  short,  "  The  Antichrist  spoken  of  by  8t. 

•  **  Straminosa."    Prefat.  in  Ep.  Jac.  Jenae  de  Captiv  BabyL 


ANTICHRIST.  271 

itDhn,"  1  John  ii.  18,  and  called  by  him,  "A  beast  with  seven 
heads  and  ten  horns,"  Rev.  xiii.  1,  whose  see  or  chu.'ch  is 
*'  the  great  harlot,  the  mother  of  the  fornications  and  abomina- 
tions of  the  earth/'  Ibid.  xvii.  5.  I  shudder  to  repeat  these 
blasphemies,  and  I  blush  to  hear  them  uttered  by  my  fellow. 
Christians,  and  countrymen,  who  derive  their  liturgy,  their  min. 
klry,  their  Christianity  and  civilization,  from  the  pope  and  the 
Church  of  Rome  ;  but  they  have  been  too  generally  taught  by 
the  learned,  and  believed  by  the  ignorant,  for  me  to  pass  them 
by  in  silence  on  this  occasion.  One  of  Bishop  Porteus's  col- 
leagues, Bishop  Halifax,  speaks  of  this  doctrine  concerning  the 
pope  and  Rome,  as  long  being  "  the  common  symbol  of  Protest- 
antism."* Certain  it  is,  that  the  author  of  it,  the  outrageous 
Martin  Luther,  may  be  said  to  have  established  Protestantism 
upon  this  principle.  He  had  at  first  submitted  his  religious 
controversies  to  the  decision  of  the  pope,  protesting  to  him  thus : 
*'  Whether  you  give  life  or  death,  approve  or  reprove,  as  you 
may  judge  best,  I  will  hearken  to  your  voice,  as  to  that  of 
Christ  himself;"!  ^"^  ^^  sooner  did  Pope  Leo  condemn  his  doc- 
trine, than  he  published  his  book  "Against  the  execrable  bull 
of  Antichrist,":}:  as  he  qualified  it.  In  like  manner,  Melanc- 
thon,  Bullin2;er,  and  many  others  of  Luther's  followers,  publicly 
maintained,  "  that  the  pope  is  Antichrist,"  as  did  afterwards 
Calvin,  Beza,  and  the  writers  of  that  party  in  general. — This 
party  considered  this  doctrine  so  essential,  as  to  vote  it  an  article 
of  faith,  in  their  synod  of  Gap,  held  in  1603. §  The  writers  in 
defence  of  this  impious  tenet  in  our  island,  are  as  numerous  as 
those  of  the  whole  continent  put  together,  John  Fox,  Whitaker, 
Fulke,  Willet,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Mede,  Lowman,  Towson, 
Bicheno,  Kett,  &c.,  with  the  bishops,  Fowler,  Warburton, 
Newton,  Halifax,  Hurd,  Watson,  and  others,  too  numerous  to 
be  here  mentioned.  One  of  these  writers,  whose  work  has  just 
appeared,  has  collected  from  the  Scriptures  a  new,  and  quite 
whimsical  system,  concerning  Antichrist.  Hitherto,  Protestant 
expositors  have  been  content  to  apply  the  character  and  attri- 
butes of  Antichrist,  to  a  succession  of  Roman  pontiffs;  but  the 
Rev.  H.  Kett  professes  to  have  discovered,  that  the  said  Anti- 
christ is,  at  the  same  time,  every  pope  who  has  filled  the  See 
of  Rome,  since  the  year  756,  to  the  number  of  160,  together 
with  the  whole  of  what  he  calls  "the  Mahometan  power,"  from 
a  period  more  remote  by  a  century  and  a  half,  and  the  whole  v-f 

•  Sermons  by  Bishop  Halifax,  preached  at  the  lecture  founded  by  th« 
Ate  Bishop  Warburton,  to  prove  the  apostacy  of  Papal  Rome,  p.  27. 
t  Epist.  ad  Leon  X.,  A.  D.  1518.  X  Tom.  ii. 

§  Bossuet's  Variat.  P  ii.  B.  13. 


273  LETTER    XLV. 

infii.elity,  which  he  traces  to  a  still  more  ancient  origin  than 
even  Mahometanism.* 

That  the  first  pope,  St.  Peter,  on  whom  Christ  declared  that 
he  built  his  church,  Matt.  xvi.  18,  was  not  Antichrist,  I  trust  I 
need  not  prove ;  nor,  indeed,  his  third  successor  in  the  popedom, 
St.  Clement ;  since  St.  Paul  testifies  of  him,  that  his  name  is 
wntten  in  the  hook  of  life,  Phil.  iv.  3.  In  like  manner  there  is 
no  need  of  my  demonstrating,  that  the  See  of  Rome  was  not 
the  harlot  of  Revelations,  when  St.  Paul  certified  of  its  men-- 
bers,  that  their  faith  was  spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  worlds 
Rom.  i.  8.  At  what  particular  period,  then,  I  now  ask,  as  I 
asked  Mr.  Brown,  in  one  of  my  former  letters,  did  the  grand 
apostac}^  take  place,  by  which  the  head  pastor  of  the  church  of 
Christ  became  his  declared  enemy  ;  in  short,  the  antichrist,  and 
by  which  the  church,  whose  faith  had  been  divinely  authenti- 
cated, became  the  great  harlot,  full  of  the  names  of  blasphemy  ? 
This  revolution,  had  it  really  taken  place,  would  have  been  the 
greatest,  and  the  most  remarkable,  that  ever  hajDpened  since  the 
deluge.  Hence,  we  might  expect  that  the  witnesses,  who  pro- 
fess to  bear  testimony  to  its  reality,  would  agree  as  to  the  time 
of  its  taking  place.  Let  us  now  observe  how  far  this  is  the 
fact.  The  Lutheran  Braunbom,  who  writes  the  most  copiously, 
and  the  most  confidently  of  this  event,  tells  us,  that  the  popish 
Antichrist  was  born  in  the  year  of  Christ,  86,  that  he  grew  to 
his  full  size  in  376,  that  he  was  at  his  greatest  strength  in  636, 
that  he  began  to  decline  in  1086,  that  he  would  die  in  1640, 
and  that  the  world  would  end  in  171  l.f  Sebastian  Francus 
affirms,  that  Antichrist  appeared  immediately  after  the  apostles, 
and  caused  the  external  church,  with  its  faith  and  sacraments, 
to  disappear.^  The  Protestant  Church  of  Transylvania  pub- 
ished,  that  Antichrist  first  appeared  A.  D.  200. §  Napper  de- 
clared that  his  coming  was  about  313,  and  that  Pope  Silvester 
was  the  man.||  Melancthon  says,  that  Pope  Zozimus,  in  420, 
was  the  first  Antichrist  ;ir  while  Beza  transfers  this  character 
to  the  great  and  good  St.  Leo,  A.  D.  440.**  Fleming  fixes  on 
the  year  606  as  the  year  of  this  great  event ;  Bishop  Newton  on 
the  year  727 ;  but  all  agree,  says  the  Rev.  Henry  Kett,  "  that 
the  antichristian  power  was  fully  established  in  757,  or  758. "ff 
Notwithstanding  this  confident  assertion,  Cranmer's  bi  jther-in- 

•  History  of  the  Interpreter  of  Prophecy,  by  H.  Kett,  B.  D.  This  wri, 
ter's  attempt  to  transform  the  great  supporters  of  the  pope,  St.  Jerom,  Pope 
Gregory  I.,  St.  Bernard,  &,c.,  into  witnesses  that  the  pope  is  Antichrist,  be- 
cause they  condemn  certain  acts  as  antichristian,  is  truly  ridiculous. 

t  Bayie's  Diet.  Braunbom.  t  De  Avegand  Stat.  Eccles. 

§  De  Abolend  Christ  per  Antichris.         ||  Upon  the  Jlevel. 

S  In  locis  prostremo  edit.       **  In  Confess.  Genera]        tt  Vol.  ii.  p  58 


AI>JTICHRIST.  278 

law,  Buiiinger,  had,  long  before,  assigned  the  year  763  as  the 
era  of  this  grand  i evolution,*  and  Junius  had  put  it  off  to 
1073.  Musculus  could  not  discover  Antichrist  in  the  church 
till  about  1200,  Fox  not  till  1300,-|-  and  Martin  Luther,  as  we 
have  seen,  not  till  his  doctrine  was  condemned  by  Pope  Leo  in 
1520. — Such  are  the  inconsistencies  and  contradictions  of  those 
learned  Protestants,  who  profess  to  see  so  clearly  the  verification 
of  the  prophecies  concerning  Antichrist  in  the  Ronnan  pontiffs. 
I  say,  contradictions,  because  those  among  them,  who  prDnouncs 
Pope  Gregory,  or  Leo  the  Great,  or  Pope  Silvester,  to  have 
been  Antichrist,  must  contradict  those  others,  who  adncit  them 
to  have  been,  respectively.  Christian  pastors  and  saints.  Now 
what  credit  do  men  of  sense  give  to  an  account  of  any  sort,  the 
vouchers  for  which  contradict  each  other  ?  Certainly  none  at  all. 
Nor  are  the  predictions  of  these  egregious  interpreters,  con- 
cerning the  death  of  Antichrist,  and  the  destruction  of  Popery, 
more  consistent  with  one  another,  than  their  accounts  of  the 
birth  and  progress  of  them  both.  We  have  seen  above,  that 
Braunbom  prognosticated  that  the  death  of  the  papal  Antichrist 
would  take  place  in  the  year  1640.  John  Fox  foretold  it  would 
happen  in  1666.  The  incomparable  Joseph  Mede,  as  the  Bishop 
of  Halifax  calls  him, J  by  a  particular  calculation  of  his  own 
invention,  undertook  to  demonstrate  that  the  papacy  would  be 
finally  destroyed  in  1653. §  The  Calvinist  minister,  Jurieu, 
who  had  adopted  this  system,  fearing  that  the  event  would  not 
verify  it,  found  a  pretext  to  lengthen  the  term,  first  to  1690,  and 
afterwards  to  1710.  But  he  lived  to  witness  a  disappointment 
at  each  of  these  periods.  ||  Alix,  another  Huguenot  preacher, 
predicted  that  the  fatal  catastrophe  would  certainly  take  place 
in  1716. IT  Whiston,  who  pretended  to  find  out  the  longitude, 
pretended  also  to  discover  that  the  popedom  would  terminate  in 
1714  ;  finding  himself  mistaken,  he  guessed  a  second  time,  and 
fixed  on  the  year  1735.**  At  length,  Mr.  Kett,  from  the  success 
of  his  Antichrist  of  Infidelity  against  his  Antichrist  of  Papery^ 
about  twenty  years  ago,  (for  he  feels  no  difficulty  in  dividing 
Satan  against  himself,  Matt.  xii.  6,)  foretold  that  the  long  wished 
for  event  was  at  the  eve  of  being  accomplished  ;ff  and  Mr. 
Daubeny  having  witnessed  Pope  Pius  VI.  in  chains,  and  Rome 
possessed  by  French  Atheists,  with  several  other  preachers, 
sounds  the  trumpet  of  victory,  and  exclaims,  all  is  accom- 
plished.JJ  In  like  manner,  G.  S.  Faber,  in  his  two  sermons, 
before  the  University  of  Oxford,  in  1799,  boasts  that  "  the  im. 

♦  In  Apoc.        t  In  Eandem.      t  P.  286.      §  Bayle's  Diet.     i|  Ibid 
f  Ibid  •*  Essay  on  Revel.  tt  Vol.  ii.  chap.  1. 

X\  The  fall  of  Papal  Rome- 


374  LETTER    XLV. 

merise  Gothic  structure  of  Popery,  built  on  superstition  and  but 
tressed  with  tortures,  has  crumbled  to  dust."  Empty  triumphs 
of  the  enemies  of  the  church !  They  ought  to  have  learnea 
from  her  lengthened  history,  that  she  never  proves  the  truth  of 
Christ's  promises  so  evidently  as  when  she  seems  sinking  under 
the  waves  of  persecution :  and  that  the  chair  of  Peter  never 
shines  so  gloriously  as  when  it  is  filled  by  a  dying  martyr,  like 
Pius  VI.,  or  a  captive  confessor,  like  Pius  VII.;  however  tri. 
umphant,  for  a  lime,  their  persecutors  may  appear ! 

But  these  dealers  in  prophecy  undertake  to  demonstrate  from 
the  characters  of  Anticirist,  as  pointed  out  by  St.  Paul  and  St. 
John,  that  this  succession  of  popes  is  the  very  man  in  question. 
Accordingly,  the  Bishop  of  LlandafFsays  :  "  I  have  known  the  infi- 
delity  of  more  than  one  young  man  happily  removed,  by  showing 
him  the  characters  of  Popery  delineated  by  St.  Paul,  in  his  pio- 
phecy  concerning  the  man  of  sin,  (2  Thess.  ii.,)  and  in  that  con- 
cerning the  apostacyofthe  latter  times,  1  Tim.  iv.  1."*  In  proof  of 
this  point,  he  republishes  the  dissenter  Benson's  dissertation  on 
Ihe  man  of  sin.-\  I  purpose,  therefore,  making  a  few  remarks 
on  the  leading  points  of  this  adoptive  child  of  his  lordship,  as 
also  upon  some  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kett's  illustrations  of  them. 
First,  then,  we  all  know  that  the  revelation  of  the  man  of  sin  will 
be  accompanied  with  a  revolt  or  falling  off,  in  other  words,  with 
a  great  apostacy  ;  but  it  is  a  question  to  be  discussed  between 
me  and  Bishop  Watson,  whether  this  character  of  apostacy  is 
more  applicable  to  the  Catholic  Church,  or  to  that  class  of  reli- 
gionists who  adopt  his  opinions  ?  To  decide  this  point,  let  me 
ask,  what  are  the  first  principal  articles  of  the  three  creeds  pro- 
fessed by  his  church  as  well  as  by  ours,  that  of  the  apostles, 
t.hat  of  Nice,  and  that  of  St.  Athanasius,  as  likewise  of  his  Arti- 
cles, his  Liturgy,  and  his  Canons  ?  Incontestibly  those  which 
profess  a  belief  in  the  blessed  Trinity,  and  the  incarnation  of 
the  consubstantial  Son  of  the  Eternal  Father.  Now  it  is  noto- 
rious,  that  every  Catholic  throughout  the  world  holds  these  the 
fundamental  articles  of  Christianity  as  firmly  now  as  St.  Atha- 
nasius himself  did  fifteen  hundred  years  ago  ;  but  what  says  his 
lordship,  with  numberless  other  Protestant  Christians  of  this 
country,  on  these  heads  ?  Let  the  preface  to  this  collection  be 
consulted,^  in  which,  if  he  does  not  openly  deny  the  Trinity,  he 
excuses  the  Unitarians,  who  deny  it,  on  the  ground  that  they 
are  "  afraid  of  becoming  idolaters  by  worshipping  Jesus  Christ. "§ 
Let  his  charges  be  examined  :  in  one  of  which  he  says  to  his 
clergy,  that  "  he  does  not  think  it  safe  to  tell  them  what  the 

'« .  Bishop  Watson's  Collect,  p.  7  t  Ibid.  p.  968. 

X  Vol.  1,  Pref.  p.  15,  &c.  §  P.  17. 


ANTICHRIST.  275 

Christian  doctrines  are;'^*  no,  not  sc  mucn  as  the  unity  and 
trinity  of  God.  In  another,  charge,  however,  the  bishop  as- 
sumes more  courage,  and  informs  his  clergy,  that  "  Protestant. 
ism  consists  in  believing  what  each  one  pleases,  and  in  profess- 
ing  jvhat  he  believes."  How  much  should  I  rejoice  to  have 
this  question  o^apostacy,  between  the  Bishop  of  Llandaff  and  me, 
decided  by  Luther,  Calvin,  Beza,  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  James 
I.,  were  it  not  for  the  proofs  which  history  affords  me,  that,  Kot 
content  with  excluding  him  from  the  class  of  Christians,  they 
would  assuredly  burn  him  at  the  stake  as  an  apostate.  The 
second  character  of  Antichrist,  set  down  by  St.  Paul,  is,  that  he 
*'  opposeth  and  is  lifted  up  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that 
is  worshipped ;  so  that  he  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing 
himself  as  if  he  were  God."  2  Thess.  ii.  4.  This  character 
Mr.  Benson  and  Bishop  Watson  think  applicable  to  the  pope, 
who,  they  say,  claims  the  attributes  and  homage  due  to  the 
Deity.  I  leave  you,  reverend  sir,  and  your  friends,  to  judge  of 
the  truth  of  this  character,  when  I  inform  you  uiat  the  pope  has 
his  confessor,  like  other  Catholics,  to  whom  he  confesses  his  sins 
in  private ;  and  that  every  day,  in  saying  mass,  he  bows  before 
the  altar,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  people  confesses  that  he  has 
"  sinned  in  thought,  word,  and  deed,"  begging  them  to  pray  to 
God  for  him ;  and  that  afterwards,  in  the  most  solemn  part  of 
it,  he  professes  "  his  hopes  of  forgiveness,  not  through  his  own 
merits,  but  through  the  bounty  and  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord."j-  The  third  mark  of  Antichrist  is,  that  his  coming  is  ac- 
cording to  the  working  of  Satan,  and  in  all  power,  and  signs,  and 
lying  wonders.  2  Thess.  ii.  9.  From  this  passage  of  Holy 
Writ,  it  appears  that  Antichrist,  whenever  he  does  come,  will 
work  false,  illusive  prodigies,  as  the  magicians  of  Pharaoh  did. 
But,  from  the  divine  promises,  it  is  evident  that  the  disciples  of 
Christ  would  continue  to  work  true  miracles,  such  as  he  himself 
wrought ;  and  from  the  testimony  of  the  holy  fathers,  and  all 
ecclesiastical  writers,  it  is  incontestible,  that  certain  servants  of 
God  have  been  enabled  by  him  to  work  them,  from  time  to  time, 
ever  since  this  his  promise.  This  I  have  elsewhere  demon- 
strated ;  as,  likewise,  that  the  fact  is  denied  by  Protestants,  not 
for  want  of  evidence,  as  to  its  truth,  but  because  this  is  neces- 
sary for  the  defence  of  their  system. f  Still  it  is  false  that  the 
Catholic  Church  ever  claimed  a  poioer  of  working  miracles  in  the 
order  of  nature,  as  her  opponents  pretend  All  that  we  say  is, 
that  God  is  pleased,  from  time  to  time,  to  illustrate  the  true 
church  with  real  miracles,  and  thereby  to  show  that  she  belongs 
to  \vm. 

*  Bishop  Watson's  Charge,  1795.   t  Canon  of  the  Mass.  I  Part  ii.  Let.  xxiif. 


276  LETTER    XLV. 

The  latest  dealer  in  prophecies,  who  boasts  tl  at  his  book* 
have  been  revised  by  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,'^  by  way  of  show- 
ing the  confornnity  between  antichristian  Popery  and  the  least 
that  did  great  signs,  so  that  he  made  fire  to  come  down  from  heaven 
unto  the  earth,  in  the  sight  of  men,  (Rev.  xiii.  13,)  says  of  the 
former :  "  Even  fire  is  pretended  to  come  down  from  heaven,  aa 
in  the  case  of  St.  Anthony's  fire.'''-\  I  am  almost  ashamed  to 
lefute  so  illiterate  a  cavil.  True  it  is,  that  the  hospital  monks 
of  St.  Anthony  were  heretofore  famous  for  curing  the  eiysipelas 
with  a  peculiar  ointment,  on  which  account  that  disease  ac- 
quired the  name  of  St.  Anthony's  fire  ;%  but  neither  these  monks, 
nor  any  other  Catholics,  were  used  to  invoke  that  inflammation, 
or  any  other  burning  whatsoever,  from  heaven,  or  elsewhere. 
1  beg  that  you  and  your  friends  will  suspend  your  opinion  of 
tht^  fourth  alleged  resemblance  between  Antichrist  and  the  pope, 
that  of  persecuting  the  saints,  till  I  have  leisure  to  treat  that  sub- 
ject  in  greater  detail  than  I  can  at  present.  I  shall  take  no 
notice  at  all  of  this  writer's  chronological  calculations,  nor  oi 
the  anagrams  and  chronograms,  by  which  many  Protestant  ex. 
pounders  have  endeavored  to  extract  the  mysterious  number  of 
666  from  the  name  or  title  of  certain  popes,  further  than  to  ob. 
serve,  that  ingenious  Catholics  have  extracted  the  same  num. 
ber  from  the  name  of  Martinus  Lutherus,  and  even  from  that  of 
David  Chrytheus,  who  was  the  most  celebrated  inventor  of 
those  riddles. 

Such  are  the  grounds  on  which  certain  refractory  children  in 
modern  ages,  have  ventured  to  call  their  true  mother  a  prosit' 
tute,  and  the  common  father  of  Christians,  the  author  of  their 
own  conversion  from  Paganism,  the  man  of  sin,  and  the  very 
Antichrist.  But  they  do  not  really  believe  what  they  declare  ; 
iheir  object  being  only  to  inflame  the  ignorant  multitude.  I 
have  sufficient  reason  to  think  this,  when  I  hear  a  Luther  threat, 
ening  to  unsay  all  that  he  had  said  against  the  pope,  a  Melanc. 
thon  lamenting  that  Protestants  had  renounced  him,  a  Beza 
negotiating  to  return  to  him,  and  a  late  Warburton  lecturer  la 
menting,  on  his  death-bed,  that  he  could  not  do  the  same,  with 
out  impoverishing  his  wife  and  children. 

I  am,  &c. 

JoHr*    MiLNER. 

•  Interpret  of  Prophecy,  by  H.  Kett,  LL.  B.  Fref 

t  KeCt,  vol  ii.  p  22.  X  Paquotius,  In  Molanum  De  Saci     nag 


SUPREMACT.  iT^ 


1.ETTER  XLVI.— TO  THE  REV.  ROBERT  CLAYTON,  M.A. 

ON  THE  POPE'S  SUPREMACY. 

Reverend  sir — 

This  acknowledges  the  honor  of  three  different  letters  from 
you,  which  I  have  not  till  now  been  able  to  notice.  The  objec- 
tions, contained  in  the  two  former,  are  either  answered,  or  will, 
with  the  help  of  God,  be  answered  by  me.  The  chief  purport 
of  your  last,  is  to  assure  me,  that  the  absurd  and  impious  tenet, 
of  the  pope  being  Antichrist,  never  was  a  part  of  your  faith,  nor 
even  your  opinion ;  but  that  having  read  over  Dr.  Barrow's 
Treatise  of  ike  Pope^s  Supremacy,  as  well  as  what  Bishop  Por- 
teus  has  published  upon  it,  you  cannot  be  but  of  Archbishop 
Tillotson's  mind,  who  published  the  above-named  treatise ; 
namely,  that  "  The  pope's  supremacy  is  not  only  an  indefensi- 
ble, but  also  an  impudent  cause ;  that  there  is  not  one  tolerable 
argument  for  it,  and  that  there  are  a  thousand  invincible  rea- 
sons against  it."*  Your  liberality,  reverend  sir,  on  the  former 
point,  justifies  the  idea  I  had  formed  of  you  ;  with  respect  to  the 
second,  whether  the  pope's  claim  of  supremacy,  or  Tillotson's 
assertion  concerning  it,  is  impudent,  I  shall  leave  you  to  deter- 
mine, when  you  shall  have  perused  the  present  letter.  But  aa 
this,  like  other  subjects  of  our  controversy,  has  been  enveloped 
in  a  cloud  of  misrepresentation,  I  must  begin  with  dissipating 
this  cloud,  and  with  clearly  stating  what  the  faith  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church  is  concerning  the  matter  in  question. 

It  is  not  then  the  faith  of  this  church,  that  the  pope  has  any 
civil  or  temporal  supremacy,  by  virtue  of  which  he  can  depose 
princes,  or  give  or  take  away  the  property  of  other  persons  out 
3f  his  own  domain  :  for  even  the  incarn?,te  Son  of  God,  from 
whom  he  derives  the  supremacy  which  he  possesses,  did  not  claim, 
nere  upon  earth,  any  right  of  the  above-mentioned  kind  ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  positively  declared,  that  his  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world  f  Hence,  the  Catholics  of  both  our  islands  have,  without 
impeachment  even  From  Rome,  denied  upon  oath,  that  "  the  pope 
has  any  civil  jurisdiction,  power,  superiority,  or  pre-eminence, 
directly  or  indirectly,  within  this  realm. "f  But,  as  it  is  unde- 
niable that  different  popes,  ifi  former  ages,  have  pronounced  sen- 
tence of  deposition  against  certain  contemporary  princes,  and  as 
great  numbers  of  theologians  have  held,  (though  not  as  a  matter 
of  faith,)  that  they  had  a  right  to  do  so  ;  it  seems  proper,  by  way 
of  mitigating  the  odium  which  Dr.  Porteus  and  other  Protestan.9 
rsise  against  them  on  this  head,  to  state  the  grounds  on  which 

•  Tillotson's  Preface  to  Barrow's  Treatise.  "•  31  Geo.  III.  c.  32. 

24 


378  LETTER    XLVI. 

the  poi/tiiTs  acted,  and  the  divines  reasoned,  in  this  business, 
Heretoibre  the  kingdoms,  principalities,  and  states,  composing 
the  Latin  Cfiurch,  when  tliey  were  all  of  the  same  religion, 
formed,  as  it  were,  one  Christian  republic,  of  which  the  pope 
was  the  accredited  head.  Now,  as  mankind  have  been  sensible 
at  all  times  that  the  duty  of  civil  allegiance  and  submission  can. 
not  extend  beyon(.  a  certain  point,  and  that  they  ought  not  to 
surrender  their  property,  lives,  and  morality,  to  be  sported  with 
by  a  Nero  or  a  Heliogabalus  ;  instead  of  deciding  the  nice  point 
for  themselves,  wnen  resistance  becomes  lawful,  they  thought  it 
right  to  be  guided  by  their  chief  pastor.  The  kings  and  princes 
themselves  acknowledged  this  right  in  the  pope,  and  frequently 
applied  to  him  to  make  use  of  his  indirect  temporal  power,  as 
appears  in  numberless  instances.*  In  latter  ages,  however, 
since  Christendom  has  been  disturbed  by  a  variety  of  religions, 
the  power  of  the  pontiff  has  been  generally  withdrawn.  Princes 
make  war  upon  each  other  at  their  pleasure,  and  subjects  rebel 
against  their  princes  as  their  passions  dictate,")"  to  the  great  detri- 

*  See  in  Mat.  Paris,  A.  D.  J195,  the  appeal  of  our  king,  Richard  I.,  to 
Pope  Celestin  III.  against  the  Duke  of  Austria,  for  having  detained  him  pris- 
oner at  Trivallis,  and  the  pope's  sentence  of  excommunication  against  the 
duke  for  refusing  to  do  him  justice. 

t  In  every  country  in  which  Protestantism  was  preached,  sedition  and  re. 
bellion,  with  the  tota>l  or  partial  deposition  of  the  lawful  sovereign,  ensued, 
not  without  the  active  concurrence  of  the  preachers  themselves.  Luther 
formed  a  league  of  princes  and  states  in  Germany  against  the  emperor,  which 
desolated  the  empire  for  more  than  a  century.  His  disciples,  Muncer  and 
Storck,  taking  advantage  of  the  pretended  evangelical  liberty  which  he  taught, 
at  the  head  of  40,000  Anabaptists,  claimed  the  empire  and  possession  of  the 
world,  in  quality  of  the  meek  ones,  and  enforced  their  demand  with  fire  and 
sword,  dispossessing  princes  and  lawful  owners,  &c.  Zuinglius  lighted  up  a 
Bimilar  flame  throughout  Switzerland,  at  Geneva,  &c.,  and  died  fighting, 
Bword  in  hand,  for  the  Reformation,  which  he  preached.  The  United  States 
embraced  Protestantism,  and  renounced  their  sovereign,  Philip,  at  the  same 
time.  The  Calvinists  of  France,  in  conformity  with  the  doctrine  of  their 
master,  namely,  that  "  Princes  deprived  themselves  of  their  power  when  they 
resist  God,  and  that  it  is  better  to  spit  in  their  faces  than  obey  them,"  Dan. 
vi.  22,  as  soon  as  they  found  themselves  strong  enough,  rose  in  arms  against 
their  sovereigns,  and  dispossessed  them  of  half  their  dominions.  Knox, 
Goodman,  Buchanan,  and  the  other  preachers  of  Presbyterianism  in  Scot- 
land, having  taught  the  people  that  "  Princes  may  be  deposed  by  their  sub 
jects,  if  they  be  tyrants  against  God  and  his  truth,"  and  that  "  It  is  blasphemy 
to  say  that  kings  are  to  be  obeyed,  good  or  bad,"  disposed  them  for  the  per. 
petration  of  those  riots  and  violences,  including  the  murder  of  Cardinal  Beaton, 
and  the  deposition  and  captivity  of  their  lawful  sovereign,  by  which  Protest. 
aniism  was  established  in  that  country.  With  respect  to  England,  no  sooner 
was  the  son  of  Henry  dead,  than  a  Protestant  usurper.  Lady  Jane,  was  set 
up,  in  prejudice  of  his  daughters,  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  and  supported  by 
Cranmer,  Ridley,  Latimer,  Sandys,  Poynet,  and  every  reformer  of  any  note, 
because  she  was  a  Protestant.  Finally,  it  was  upon  the  principles  of  the  Re. 
formation,  especially  that  of  each  man's  explaining  the  Scripture  for  himself, 


SFPREMACY.  ^1>/ 

ment  of  both  parties,  as  may  be  gathered  from  what  Sir  Edward 
Sandys,  an  early  and  zealous  Protestant,  writes  :  "  The  pope 
was  the  common  father,  adviser,  and  conductor  of  Christians,  to 
reconcile  their  enmities,  and  decide  their  differences."*  I  have 
to  observe,  secondly,  that  the  question  here  is  not  about  the 
personal  qualities  or  conduct  of  any  particular  pope,  or  of  the 
popes  in  general :  at  the  same  time,  it  is  proper  to  state,  that  in 
A  list  of  253  popes  who  have  successively  filled  the  chair  of 
St,  Peter,  only  a  small  comparative  number  of  them  have  dis- 
graced it,  while  a  great  proportion  of  them  have  done  honor  to 
It  by  their  virtues  and  conduct.  On  this  head,  I  must  again 
fluote  Addison,  who  says  :  "  The  pope  is  generally  a  man  of 
.earning  and  virtue,  mature  in  years  and  experience,  who  has 
seldom  any  vanity  or  pleasure  to  gratify  at  his  people's  ex- 
i^-ense,  and  is  neither  encumbered  with  wife  and  children,  or 
tinstresses."f 

In  the  third  place,  I  must  remind  you,  and  my  other  friends,  that 
I  have  nothing  here  to  do  with  the  doctrine  of  the  pope's  individual 
infallibility,  (when  pronouncing  ex  cathedra,  as  the  term  is,  he  ad- 
dresses the  whole  church,  and  delivers  the  faith  of  it  upon  some 
contested  article,):]:  nor  would  you,  in  case  you  were  to  become 
a  Catholic,  be  required  to  believe  in  any  doctrines  except  such 
as  are  held  by  the  whole  Catholic  Church,  with  the  pope  at  its 
head.  But  without  entering  into  this,  or  any  other  scholastic 
question,  I  shall  content  myself  with  observing,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible  lor  any  man  of  candor  and  learning  not  to  concur  with  a 
celebrated  Protestant  author,  namely,  Causabon,  who  writes 
thus  :  *■*  No  one  who  is  the  least  versed  in  ecclesiastical  history 
can  doubt,  that  God  made  use  of  the  holy  see,  during  many 
ages,  to  preserve  the  doctrines  of  faith  !"§ 

At  length  we  arrive  at  the  question  itself,  which  is,  whether 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  who,  by  pre-eminence,  is  called  Papa, 

and  hatred  of  Popery,  that  ihe  grand  rebellion  was  begun  and  carried  on,  till 
the  king  was  beheaded  and  the  constitution  destroyed.  Has,  then,  the  cause 
of  humanity,  or  tha'  of  peace  and  order,  been  benefited  by  the  change  in 
question  f 

*  Survey  of  Europ;e,  p.  202.  t  Remarks  on  Italy,  p.  112. 

t  The  follovs'ing  is  a  specimen  of  Barrow's  and  Tillotson's  chicanery,  in 
their  Treatise  cf  the  Supremacy.  Bellarmin,  in  working  up  an  argument  on 
the  pope's  infallibility,  says,  hypotketically,  by  way  of  proving  the  falsehood 
of  his  opponent's  doctrine,  that  "  ^lis  doctrine  would  oblige  the  church  to  be. 
lieve  vices  to  be  good,  and  virtues  to  be  bad,  in  case  the  pope  were  to  err  in 
teaching  this  "  Bell,  de  Rom.  Pont.  1.  iv.  c.  5.  Hence  these  writers  take  oc- 
casion to  affirm,  that  Bellarmin  positively  teaches  that  *'  if  the  pope  should 
err,  by  enjoining  vices  or  forbidding  virtues,  the  church  would  be  bound  to 
beheve  vices  to  be  good,  and  virtues  evil  I"  P.  203  This  shameful  misre. 
presentation  has  been  taken  up  by  most  subsequent  Protestant  controvertists. 

^  Exereit.  xv.  ad  Annal.  Baron 


280  LETTER    XLVI. 

\Fope,  or  Father  of  the  Faithful,)  is,  or  is  net,  entitled  to  a  supe. 
rior  ranlc  and  jurisdiction  above  other  bishops  of  the  Cnristian 
church,  so  as  to  be  its  syiritua!  'head  here  upon  eaith,  and  Jiia 
see  the  centre  of  Catholic  unity?  All  Catholics  necessarily  hold 
the  affirmative  of  this  question ;  while  the  above-mentioned  ter- 
giversating primate  denies  that  nere  is  a  tolerable  argument  in 
its  favor.*  Let  us  begin  with  consulting  the  New  Testament,  in 
order  to  see  whether  or  not  the  first  Pope  or  Bishop  of  Rome,  St. 
Peter,  was  any  way  superior  to  the  other  apostles.  St.  Matthew, 
in  numbering  up  the  apostles,  expressly  says  of  him,  THE 
FIRST,  Simon,  who  is  called  Peter,  Matt.  x.  2.  In  like  man- 
ner,  the  other  evangelists,  while  they  class  the  other  apostles 
differently,  still  give  the  first  place  to  Peter. f  In  fact,  as  Bos- 
suet  observes,:|:  "  St.  Peter  was  the  first  to  confess  his  faith  in 
Christ  ;§  the  first  to  whom  Christ  appeared  after  his  resurrec- 
tion ;||  the  frsi  to  preach  the  belief  of  this  to  the  people  ;ir  the 
firstio  convert  the  Jews,**  and  the  first  to  receive  the  Gentiles,  "ff 
Again,  I  would  ask,  is  there  no  distinction  implied  in  St.  Peter's 
being  called  upon  by  Christ  to  declare,  three  several  times,  that 
he  loved  him,  and  even  that  he  loved  him  more  than  his  fellow, 
apostles,  and  in  his  being  each  time  charged  to  feed  Christ's 
lambs,  and,  at  length,  \ofeed  his  sheep  also,  whom  the  lambs  ap« 
used  to  follow  ?JJ  What  else  is  here  signified,  but  that  thia 
apostle  was  to  act  the  part  of  a  shepherd,  not  only  with  respect 
to  the  flock  in  general,  but  also  with  respect  to  the  pastors 
themselves  ?  The  same  is  plainly  signified,  by  our  Lord's 
prayer  for  the  faith  of  this  apostle  in  particular,  and  the  charge 
that  he  subsequently  gave  him  :  "  Simon,  Simon,  behold  Satan 
has  desired  to  have  you,  that  he  may  sift  you  as  wheat :  but  I 
have  prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not ;  and  thou,  being 
once  converted,  confirm  thy  brethren."  Luke,  xxii.  32.  Is  there 
no  mysterious  meaning  in  the  circumstance,  marked  by  the 
evangelist,  of  Christ's  entering  into  Simon'' s  ship  in  preference  to 
that  of  James  and  John,  in  order  to  teach  the  people  out  of  it ; 
and  in  the  subsequent  miraculous  draught  of  fishes,  together  with 

*  Tillotson's  father  was  an  Anabaptist,  and  he  himself  was  professedly  a 
Puritan  preacher  till  the  restoration  ;  so  that  there  is  reason  to  doubt  whether 
lie  ever  received  either  episcopal  ordination  or  baptism.  His  successor, 
^eckej,  was  also  a  dissenter,  and  his  baptism  has  been  called  in  question. 
The  former,  with  Bishop  Burnet,  was  called  upon  to  attend  Lord  Russell  at 
his  execution,  when  they  absolutely  insisted,  as  a  point  necessary  for  salva 
tion,  on  his  disclaiming  the  lawfulness  of  resistance,  in  any  case  whatever 
Presently  after,  the  revolution  happening,  they  themselves  declared  for  Rua 
sell's  principles. 

t  Mark,  iii.  16.     Luke,  vi.  14.     Acts,  i.  13.  J  Orat.  ad  Cler. 

§  Matt.  xvi.  16.     II  Luke,  xxiv.  34.     IT  Acts,  il.  .14.     «»  Ibid.  &7-4L 

ft  Ibid.  X.  47.  tt  John,  xxi.  15. 


SUPREMACY.  281 

our  Lord's  prophetic  declaration  to  Simon :  Fear  not ;  from 
henceforth  ihou  shalt  catch  men  ?  Luke,  v.  3,  10.  But  the  strong, 
est  proof  of  St.  Peter's  superior  dignity  and  jurisdiction  consists 
in  that  explicit  and  energetical  declaration  of  our  Saviour  to  him 
in  the  quarters  of  Cesarea  Philippi,  upon  his  making  that  glori- 
ous confession  of  our  Lord's  divinity  :  Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son 
of  thz  living  God.  Our  Lord  had  mysteriously  changed  hia 
name  at  his  first  interview  with  him,  when  Jesus,  looking  upon 
him,  said,  "  Thou  art  Simon,  the  son  of  Jona ;  thou  shalt  be 
called  Cephas,  which  is  interpreted  Peter,"  John,  i.  42 ;  and  on 
the  present  occasion  he  explains  the  mystery,  where  he  says, 
"  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon,  Bar-Jona  :  because  flesh  and  blood 
hath  not  revealed  it  to  thee,  but  my  Father,  who  is  in  heaven  : 
and  I  say  to  thee,  thou  art  Peter,"  (a  rock,)  "  and  UPON  THIS 
ROCK  I  WILL  BUILD  MY  CHURCH,  and  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it :  and  I  will  give  to  thee  the  keys  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth, 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on 
earth,  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven,"  Matt.  xvi.  17,  18,  19. 
Where  now,  I  ask,  is  the  sincere  Christian,  and  especially  the 
Christian  who  professes  to  make  the  Scripture  the  sole  rule  of 
his  faith,  who,  with  these  passages  of  the  inspired  text  before  his 
eyes,  will  venture,  at  the  risk  of  his  soul,  to  deny  that  any  spe- 
cial dignity  or  charge  was  conferred  upon  St.  Peter  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  other  apostles  ?  I  trust  no  such  Christian  is  to  be 
found  in  your  society.  Now,  as  it  is  a  point  agreed  upon,  at 
least  in  your  church  and  mine,  that  bishops,  in  general,  succeed 
to  the  rank  and  functions  of  the  apostles ;  so,  by  the  same  rule, 
the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  in  the  See  of  Rome,  succeeds  *o  his 
primacy  and  jurisdiction.  This  cannot  be  questioned  by  any 
serious  Christian,  who  reflects  that,  when  our  Saviour  gave  his 
orders  about  feeding  his  flock,  and  made  his  declaration  about 
building  his  church,  he  was  not  establishing  an  order  of  things, 
to  last  during  the  few  years  that  St.  Peter  had  to  live,  but  one 
that  was  to  last  as  long  as  he  should  have  a  flock  and  a  church 
on  earth,  that  is,  to  the  end  of  time — conformably  with  his  prom- 
ise to  the  apostles  and  their  successors,  in  the  concluding  words 
of  St.  Matthew :  Behold,  I  am  laith  you  always,  even  to  the  end 
of  the  world.    Matt,  xxviii.  20. 

That  St.  Peter,  (after  governing,  for  a  time,  the  Patriaichale 
of  Antioch,  the  capital  of  the  East,  and  thence  sending  ^is  dis- 
ciple, Mark,  to  establish  that  of  Africa  at  Alexandria,)  finally 
fixed  his  own  see  at  Rome,  the  capital  of  the  world  ;  that  his 
successors  there  have  each  of  them  exercised  the  power  of 
supreme  pastor,  and  have  been  acknowledged  as  such  by  all 
Christians,  except  by  notorious  heretics  and  schismatics,  from 

24* 


t83  LETTER    XLVI. 

the  apostolic  uge  down  to  the  present,  the  writings  of  the.  father*, 
doctors,  and  historians  of  the  ciiurch  unanimously  testify.  St 
Paul,  having  been  converted,  and  raised  to  the  apostleship  in  a 
miraculous  mannei,  thought  it  necessary  to  go  up  to  Jerumlem 
to  see  Peter,  where  he  abode  with  him  fifteen  days,  Galat.  i.  18. 
St.  Ignatius,  who  was  a  disciple  of  the  apostles,  and  next  suc- 
cessor, after  Evodius,  of  St.  Peter  in  the  See  of  Antioch,  ad- 
dresses  his  most  celebrated  epistle  to  the  church,  which,  he 
says,  "  PRESIDES  in  the  country  of  the  Romans."*  About 
the  same  time,  dissensions  taking  place  in  the  Church  of  Co- 
rinth, the  case  was  referred  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  to  which 
the  holy  Pope  Clement,  whose  name  is  written  in  the  hook  of  life, 
Philipp.  iv.  3,  returned  an  apostolical  answer  of  exhortation 
and  instruction.!  In  the  second  century,  St.  Irenseus,  who  had 
been  instructed  by  St.  Polycarp,  the  disciple  of  St.  John  the 
Evangelist,  referring  to  the  tradition  of  the  apostles,  preserved 
in  the  Church  of  Rome,  calls  it  "  the  greatest,  most  ancient 
and  most  universally  known,  as  having  been  founded  by  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul ;  to  which,"  he  says,  "every  church  is  bound 
to  conform,  by  reason  of  its  superior  authority.":!:  TertuUian, 
a  priest  of  the  Roman  Church,  who  flourished  near  the  same 
time,  calls  St.  Peter  "  the  rock  of  the  church,"  and  says,  that 
"the  church  was  built  upon  him."§  Speaking  of  the  Bishop 
of  Rome,  he  terms  him,  in  different  places,  "  the  blessed  pope, 
the  high  priest,  the  apostolic  prelate,"  &c.  I  must  add,  that  at 
ihis  early  period.  Pope  Victor  exerted  his  superior  authority,  by 
threatening  the  bishops  of  Asia  with  exconnjnunication,  for  their 
irregularity  in  celebrating  Easter,  and  the  other  moveable 
feasts ;  from  which  rigorous  measure  he  was  deterred,  chiefly 
by  St.  Irenseus.  II  In  the  third  century,  we  hear  OrigenlF  and 
St.  Cyprian  repeatedly  aflfirming,  that  the  church  was  "  found- 
ed on  Peter,"  that  he  "  fixed  his  chair  at  Rome,"  that  this  is, 
"the  mother  church,"  and  "root  of  Catholicity."**  The  latter 
expresses  great  indignation,  that  certain  African  schismatics 
should  dare  to  approach  "  the  See  of  Peter,  the  head  church 
and  source  of  ecclesiastical  unity. "ff  It  is  true,  this  father 
afterwards  had  a  dispute  with  Pope  Stephen,  about  rebaptizing 
converts  from  heresy  ;  but  this  proves  nothing  more,  than  that 
\e  did  not  think  the  pope's  authority  superior  to  general  tradi- 
tion, which,  through  mistake,  he  supposed  to  be  on  his  side. 
To  what  degree,  however,  he  did  admit  this  authority;  appears 

♦  llpoKd9t,Tai,  Epist.  Ignat.  Cotelero.  t  Coteler. 

X  "Ad  hanc  ecclesiam  convenire,  necesse  est  omnem  ecclesiam."     Con. 
*ra  Haeres.  I.  iii.  c.  3.  §  Prescrip.  1.  i.  c.  22,  De  Monogam. 

U  Euseb.  His.  Eccles.  1.  v.  c,  24.       IT  Horn.  5  in  Exord.  Horn.  17  in  Luc 
•*  Ep.  ad  Cornel  Ep.  ad  Anton.     De  Unit,  &c.       tt  Ep.  ad  Cornel  55. 


SUPREMACY.  283 

by  his  advising  the  same  pope  fc  depose  Marcian,  a  schismatical 
Bishop  of  Gaul,  and  to  appoint  another  bishop  in  his  place.* 
At  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  we  have  the  learned 
Greek  historian  Eusebius,  explaining  in  clear  terms  the  grouna 
of  the  Roman  pontiff's  claim  to  superior  authority,  which  .le  de- 
rives  from  St.  Peter  ;f  we  have  also  the  great  champion  ^f 
orthodoxy,  and  the  patriarch  of  the  second  see  in  the  world,  St. 
Athanasius,  appealing  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  which  see  he 
terms  "  the  mother  and  the  head  of  all  other  churches. "{  In 
fact,  the  pope  reversed  the  sentence  of  deposition,  pronounced 
by  the  saint's  enemies,  and  restored  him  to  his  patriarchal 
chair. § 

Soon  after  this,  the  Council  of  Sardica  confirmed  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  in  his  right  of  receiving  appeals  from  all  the  churches 
in  the  world.  ||  Even  the  pagan  historian,  Ammianus,  about 
the  same  time  bears  testimony  to  the  superior  authority  of  the 
Roman  pontiff.lF  In  the  same  century,  St.  Basil,  St.  Hilary, 
St.  Epiphanius,  St.  Ambrose,  and  other  fathers  and  doctors, 
teach  the  same  thing.  Let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  the  first 
named  of  these,  scruples  not  to  advise  that  the  pope  should  send 
visiters  to  the  eastern  churches,  to  correct  the  disorders  which 
the  Arians  had  caused  in  them  ;**  and  that  the  last  mentioned 
represents  communion  with  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  as  communion 
with  the  Catholic  Church. ff  I  must  add,  that  the  great  St.  Chry- 
sostom  having  been  soon  after  unjustly  deposed  from  his  see  in 
the  eastern  metropolis,  was  restored  to  it  by  the  authority  of 
Pope  Innocent ;  that  Pope  Leo  termed  his  church  "  the  head 
of  the  world,"  because  its  spiritual  power,  as  he  alleged,  ex- 
tended further  than  the  temporal  power  of  Rome  had  ever  ex- 
tended.if:]:  Finally,  the  learned  St.  Jerom,  being  distracted  with 
the  disputes  among  three  parties,  which  divided  the  Church  of 
Antioch,  to  which  church  he  was  then  subject,  wrote  for  direc- 
tions, on  this  head,  to  Pope  Damasus,  as  follows :  "  I,  who  am 
but  a  sheep,  apply  to  my  shepherd  for  succor.  I  am  united  in 
communion  with  your  holiness  ;  that  is  to  say,  with  the  chair 
of  Peter.  I  know  that  church  is  built  upon  that  rock.  He 
who  eats  the  paschal  lamb  out  of  that  house  is  profane.  Who- 
ever is  not  in  Noah's  ark  will  perish  by  the  deluge.     I  auow 

♦  Ep.  29  t  Euseb.  Chron.  An.  44.  X  Epist.  ad  Marc. 

^  Socrat.  Hist.  1.  ii.  c.  2.     Zozom.         ||  Can.  3.        IT  Rcrum  Gest.  l.xt. 

•*  Epist.  52.  tt  Orat.  in  Obit  Satyr. 

XX  Serm.  de  Nat.  Apos.     This  sentiment,  another  father  of  the  churefa,  ia 
**ie  fiUowiiig  century,  St.  Prosper,  expressed  in  these  lines : — 
"  Sedes  Roma  Petri,  quae,  pastoralis  honoris 
Facta  caput  mundo,  quidquid  non  possidet  armia^ 
Religione  tenet " 


284  LETTER    XLVI. 

nothing  ofA  italis,  I  reject  Meletius,  I  am  ignorant  of  Paulinus* 
-16  who  does  not  gather  with  thee,  scatters,"  &c.*  It  were  use- 
.ess,  after  th  s,  to  cite  the  numerous  testimonies  to  the  pope's 
supremacy,  which  St.  Augustin,  and  all  the  fathers,  doctors, 
and  church  historians,  and  all  the  general  councils  bear,  down 
to  the  present  time.  However,  as  the  authority  of  our  apostle, 
Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  is  claimed  by  most  Protestant  divines 
on  their  side,  and  is  alluded  to  by  Bishop  Porteus,f  merely  for 
having  censured  the  pride  of  John,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
in  assuming  to  himself  the  title  of  (Ecumenical  or  univeisal 
iishop  ;  it  is  proper  to  show,  that  this  pope,  like  all  the  other? 
who  went  before  him,  and  came  after  him,  did  claim  and  exercise 
the  power  of  supreme  pastor,  throughout  the  church.  Speaking 
of  this  very  attempt  of  John,  he  says  :  "  The  care  of  the  Avhole 
church  was  committed  to  Peter,  and  yet  he  is  not  called  the 
universal  apostle. "if  With  respect  to  the  See  of  Constantino- 
ple, he  says:  "  Who  doubts  but  it  is  subject  to  the  apostolical 
see  ?"  and  again,  "  When  bishops  commit  a  fault,  1  know  not 
what  bishop  is  not  subject  to  it,"  (the  See  of  Ronie.)^  As  no 
pope  was  ever  more  vigilant  in  discharging  the  duties  of  his  ex- 
alted station,  than  St.  Gregory,  so  none  of  them,  perhaps,  exer- 
cised more  numerous  or  widely  extended  acts  of  the  supremacy, 
than  he  did.  It  is  sufficient  to  cite  here  his  directions  to  St. 
Augustin  of  Canterbury,  whom  he  had  sent  into  this  island  for 
the  conversion  of  our  Saxon  ancestors,  and  v/ho  had  consulted 
him;  by  letter,  how  he  was  to  act  with  respect  to  the  French 
bishops,  and  the  bishops  of  this  island,  namely,  the  British  pre- 
lates in  Wales,  and  the  Pictish  and  Scotch  in  the  northern 
parts  ?  To  this  question  Pope  Gregory  returns  an  answer  i» 
the  following  words :  "  We  give  you  no  jurisdiction  over  the 
bishops  of  Gaul,  because,  from  ancient  times,  my  predecessors 
have  conferred  the  pallium  (the  ensign  of  legatine  authority)  on 
the  Bishop  of  Aries,  whom  we  ought  not  to  deprive  of  the  au 
thority  he  has  received.  But  we  commit  all  the  bishops  of 
Britain  to  your  care,  that  the  ignorant  among  them  may  be  in. 
structed,  the  weak  strengthened,  and  the  perverse  corrected  by 
your  authority. "II  After  this,  is  it  possible  to  believe,  that 
Bishop  Porteus  and  his  fellow-writers  ever  read  Venerable 
Bede's  History  of  the  English  Nation  ?  But  if  they  could  ever 
succeed  in  proving,  that  Christ  had  not  built  his  church  upop 
St.  Peter  and  his  successors,  and  had  not  given  to  them  the  key>' 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  it  would  still  remain  for  them  to 
prove  that  he  had  founded  any  part  of  it  on  Henry  VIII.,  Ed 

•  Ep.  ad  Damas.        t  P.  78.        X  Ep.  Greg.  1.  v.  20.        §  L.  ix.  59 
I  His.  Bed.  1.  i.  c.  27.     Resp.  9.     Spelm.  Council,  p.  98. 


suraEMAcy.  285 

^*ii  I  fl.  and  their  successors,  or  that  he  had  given  the  mysticai 
keya  \J  E'lzabeth  and  her  successors.  I  have  shown,  in  a  for- 
mer letter,  that  these  sovereigns  exercised  a  more  despotic  power 
over  all  the  ecclesiastical  and  spiritual  affairs  of  this  realm, 
than  any  pope  ever  did,  even  in  the  city  of  Rome  ;  and  that 
the  changes  in  religion,  which  took  place  in  their  reigns,  were 
effected  by  them  and  their  agents,  not  by  the  bishops  or  any 
clergy  whatever ;  ana  yet  no  one  will  pretend  to  show  from 
Scripture,  tradition,  or  reason,  that  these  princes  had  received 
any  greatei  power  from  Christ,  over  the  doctrine  and  di?(up]ine 
of  his  church,  than  he  conferred  upon  Tiberius,  Pilate,  or  He- 
rod, or  than  he  has  given,  at  the  present  day,  to  the  great  Turk 
or  the  Lama  oi  Thibet,  m  their  respective  dominions. 

Before  I  close  this  letter,  I  think  it  right  to  state  the  senti- 
ments of  a  few  eminent  Protestants,  respecting  the  pope's  3U- 
premacy.  I  have  already  mentioned  that  Luther  acknowledged 
it,  and  submissively  bowed  to  it,  during  the  three  first  years  of 
his  dogmatizing  about  justification  ;  and  till  his  doctrine  was 
condemned  at  Rome.  In  like  manner,  our  Henry  VIIL  asserted 
it,  and  wrote  a  book  in  defence  of  it ;  in  reward  of  which  the 
pope  conferred  upon  him  and  his  successors  the  new  title  of 
Defender  of  the  Faith.  Such  was  his  doctrine;  till,  becoming 
amorous  of  his  queen's  maid  of  honor,  Ann  Bullein,  and  finding 
the  pope  conscientiously  inflexible,  in  refusing  to  grant  him  a 
divorce  from  the  former,  and  to  sanction  an  adulterous  con- 
nection with  the  latter,  he  set  himself  up  as  supreme  head  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  inamtained  his  claim  by  the  arguments 
of  halters,  kpives,  and  axes.  James  L  in  his  first  speech  in 
'Parliament,  termed  Rome  '•  the  mother  church,"  and  in  his 
writings  pllowed  the  pope  to  be  "  the  Patriarch  of  the  West." 
The  late  Archbishop  Wake,  after  all  his  bitter  writings  against 
the  pope  and  the  Catholic  Church,  coming  to  discuss  the  terme 
of  a  proposed  union  between  this  church  and  that  of  England, 
expressed  himself  willing  to  allow  a  certain  superiority  to  the 
Roman  pontiff.*  Bishop  Bramhall  had  expressed  the  same 
sentiment, f  sensible,  as  he  was,  that  no  peace  or  order  could 
subsist  in  the  Christian  church,  any  more  than  in  a  political 
state,  without  a  supreme  authority.  Of  the  truth  of  this  maxim, 
two  others,  among  the  greatest  men  whom  Protestantism  has  to 
boast  of,  the  Lutheran  Melancthon,  and  the  Calvinist  Hugo 
Grotius,  were  deeply  persuaded.  The  former  had  written  to 
prove  the  pope  to  be  Antichrist ;  but  seeing  the  animosities,  the 
divisions,  the  errors,  and  the  impieties  of  the  pretended  reform- 

•  *'  S«o  gaudeat  qualicunque  Primalu.     See  Maclaine's  Third  Apprndil 
'.o  Mosl  cim's  Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  v.  t  Answe*  to  Militiere. 


286  LETTER   XLVII. 

ers,  with  whom  he  was  connected,  and  the  utter  impossibility  o! 
putting  a  stop  to  these  evils,  without  returning  to  the  ancient 
system,  he  wrote  to  Francis  I.  of  France :  "  We  acknowledge, 
in  the  first  place,  that  ecclesiastical  government  is  a  thing  holy 
and  salutary  ;  namely,  that  there  should  be  certain  bishops  to 
govern  the  pastors  of  several  churches,  and  that  THE  RO 
MAN  PONTIFF  should  be  above  all  the  bishops.  For  the 
church  stands  in  need  of  governors,  to  examine  and  ordain  those 
who  are  called  to  the  ministry,  and  to  watch  over  their  doc 
trine ;  so  tha',  if  there  were  no  bishops,  they  ought  to  be  crea- 
ted."* The  latter  great  man,  Grotius,  was  learned,  wise,  and 
always  consistent.  In  proof  of  this  he  wrote  as  follows,  to  the 
minister,  Rivet :  "All  who  are  acquainted  with  Grotius,  know 
how  earnestly  he  has  wished  to  see  Christians  united  together 
m  one  body.  This  he  once  thought  might  have  been  accom- 
plished by  a  union  among  Protestants  ;  but,  afterwards,  he  saw 
that  this  is  impossible.  Because,  not  to  mention  the  aversion  of 
Calvinists  to  every  sort  of  union,  Protestants  are  not  bound  by 
any  ecclesiastical  government,  so  that  they  can  neither  be  uni- 
ted at  present,  nor  prevented  from  splitting  into  fresh  divisions. 
Therefore  Grotius  now  is  fully  convinced,  as  many  others  are 
also,  that  Protestants  never  can  be  united  among  themselves, 
unless  they  join  those  who  adhere  to  the  Roman  See  ;  without 
which  there  never  can  be  any  general  church  government. 
Hence,  he  wishes  that  the  revolt  and  the  causes  of  it  may  be 
removed  ;  among  which  causes,  the  primacy  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  was  not  one,  as  Melancthon  confessed,  who  also  thought 
that  primacy  necessary  to  restore  union." 

I  am,  yours,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XLVn.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  JUN.,  ESQ., 

ON  THE  LANGUAGE  OF   THE   LITURGY,   AND  ON 
READING  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES. 

Dear  sir — 

I  agree  with  your  worthy  father,  that  the  departure  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Clayton  to  a  foreign  country,  is  a  loss  to  your  Salopian 
Society  in  more  respects  than  one ;  and  as  it  is  his  wish  that  1 
should  address  the  few  remaining  letters  I  l^ave  to  write,  in  an- 

*  D'Argentre,  Collect.  Jud.  t.  i.  p.  2. — Bercastle  and  Feller  relate,  thai 
Melancthon's  mother,  who  was  a  Catholic,  having  consalted  him  about  hei 
I'eiigion,  he  persuaded  her  to  continue  in  it. 


LANGUAGE    OF    LITURGY.  287 

bwer  to  Bishop  Porteus's  book,  to  you,  sir,  who,  it  seems,  agree 
with  him  in  the  main,  but  not  altogether,  on  religious  subjects, 
I  shall  do  so  for  your  own  satisfaction  and  that  of  your  friends, 
who  are  still  pleased  to  hear  me  upon  them.  Indeed  the  re- 
maining controversies  between  that  prelate  and  myself  are  of 
light  moment,  compared  with  those  I  have  been  treating  of,  as 
they  consist  chiefly  of  disciplinary  matters,  subject  to  the  con. 
trol  of  the  church,  or  of  particular  facts,  misrepresented  by  hii 
lordship. 

The  first  of  these  points  of  changeable  discipline,  which  the 
bishop  mentions,  or  rather  declaims  upon  throughout  a  whole 
chapter,  is  the  use  of  the  Latin  tongue  in  the  public  liturgy  of  the 
Latin  Church.  It  is  natural  enough  that  the  Church  of  England, 
which  is  of  modern  date,  and  confined  to  its  own  domain,  should 
adopt  its  own  language,  in  its  public  worship  ;  and,  for  a  simi- 
lar reason,  it  is  proper  that  the  Great  Western  or  Latin  Church, 
which  was  established  by  the  apostles,  when  the  Latin  tongue 
was  the  vulgar  tongue  of  Europe,  and  which  still  is  the  com- 
mon language  of  educated  persons  in  every  part  of  it,  should 
retain  this  language  in  her  public  service.  When  the  bishop 
complains  of  "  our  worship  being  performed  in  an  unknown 
tongue, ^^  and  of  our  "  wicked  and  cruel  cunning,  in  keeping 
people  in  darkness,^'  by  this  means,  under  pretext  that  "they 
reverence  what  they  do  not  understand,"  he  wust  be  conscious 
of  the  irreligious  calumnies  he  is  uttering  ;  knowing,  as  he  does, 
that  Latin  is,  perhaps,  still  the  most  general  language  of  Chris- 
tianity,* and  that  where  it  is  not  commonly  understood,  it  is  not 
the  church  which  introduced  a  foreign  language  among  the  people, 
but  it  is  the  people  who  have  forgotten  their  ancient  language. 
So  far  removed  is  the  Catholic  Church  from  "  the  wicked  and 
cruel  cunning  of  keeping  people  in  ignorance,"  by  retaining  her 
original  apostolical  languages,  the  Latin  and  the  Greek ;  that 
she  strictly  commands  her  pastors  everywhere,  "  to  inculcate 
che  word  of  God,  and  the  lessons  of  salvation,  to  the  people  in 
-heir  vulgar  tongue,  every  Sunday  and  Festival  throughout  the 
year,"!  and  to  "  explain  to  them  the  nature  and  meaning  of  her 
divine  worship  as  frequently  as  possible. "J  In  like  manner, 
We  are  so  far  from  imagining,  that  the  less  our  people  under, 
stand  of  our  liturgy,  the  more  they  reverence  it,,  that  we  are 
quite  sure  of  precisely  the  contrary  ;  particularly  with  respect 
to  our  principal  liturgy,  the  adorable  sacrifice  of  the  Mass. 

•  The  Latin  language  is  vernacular  in  Hungary  and  the  neighboring  coun, 
tries ;  it  is  taught  in  all  the  Catholic  settlements  of  the  universe  :  and  it  ap. 
preaches  so  near  to  the  Italian,  Spanish,  and  French,  as  to  be  understood, 
in  a  general  kind  of  way,  by  those  who  use  these  languages. 

I  Concil.  Frid.  Sess.  xxiv.  c.  7  t  Idem.  Sess.  xxi.  c.  8 


288  LETTER   XLVll. 

True  it  is,  that  a  part  of  this  is  performed  by  the  priest  in  silence ; 
because,  being  a  sacred  action,  as  well  as  a  form  of  words,  some 
of  the  prayers  which  the  priest  says,  would  not  be  proper  or 
lational  in  the  mouths  of  the  people. — Thus,  the  high  priest  of 
old  went  alone  into  the  tabernacle,  to  make  the  atonement  ;*  and 
thus  Zachary  offered  incense  in  the  temple  hy  himself;  while 
the  multitude  prayed  without. f  But  this  is  no  detriment  to  tha 
faithful,  as  they  have  translations  of  the  liturgy,  and  other 
books  in  their  hands,  by  means  of  which  or  of  their  own  devo- 
tion, they  can  join  with  the  priest  in  every  part  of  the  solemn 
worship ;  as  the  Jewish  people  united  with  their  priests,  in  the 
sacrifices  above-mentioned. 

But  we  are  referred  by  his  lordship  to  1  Cor.  xiv.,  in  order 
"  to  see  what  St.  Paul  would  have  judged  of  the  Romanists' 
practice,  in  retaining  the  Latin  liturgy ;"  which,  after  all,  he 
himself  and  St.  Peter  established  where  it  now  prevails.  I  an- 
swer, that  there  is  not  a  word  in  that  chapter  which  mentions  or 
alludes  to  the  public  liturgy,  which  at  Corinth  was,  as  it  is  still, 
performed  in  the  old  Greek  ;  the  whole  of  it  regarding  an  im- 
prudent and  ostentatious  use  of  the  gift  of  tongues  in  speaking 
all  kinds  of  languages;  which  gift  many  of  the  faithful  possess- 
ed at  the  time,  in  common  with  the  apostles.  The  very  reason 
alleged  by  St.  Paul,  for  prohibiting  extempore  prayers  and  ex- 
nortations,  which  no  one  understood,  namely,  that  all  things 
should  he  done  decently  and  according  to  order,  is  the  principal 
motive  of  the  Catholic  Church  for  retaining,  in  her  worship,  the 
original  languages  employed  by  the  apostles.  She  is,  as  I  be- 
fore remarked,  a  universal  church,  spread  over  the  face  of  the 
globe,  and  composed  "  of  all  nations,  and  tribes,  and  tongues," 
Rev.  vii.  9,  and  these  tongues  constantly  changing ;  so,  that  in- 
stead of  the  uniformity  of  worship,  as  well  as  of  faith,  which  is 
so  necessary  for  that  decency  and  order,  there  would  be  nothing 
but  confusion,  disputes,  and  changes  in  every  part  of  her  liturgy, 
if  it  were  performed  in  so  many  different  languages  and  dialects; 
with  the  constant  danger  of  some  alteration  or  other  in  the  es- 
sential forms,  which  would  vitiate  the  very  sacrament  and  sac- 
rifice. The  advantage  of  an  ancient  language,  for  religious 
worship,  over  a  modern  one,  in  this  and  other  respects,  is  ac- 
knowledged by  the  Cambridge  Professor  of  Divinity,  Dr.  Hey. 
He  says,  that  such  a  one  "  is  fixed  and  venerable,  free  from 
vulgarity,  and  even  more  perspicuous. "J  But  to  return  to  Bishop 
Porteus's  appeal  to  the  judgment  of  St.  Paul,  concerning  "  the 
Romanists'  practice,  in  retaining  the  language  with  the  sub- 
stance of  their  primitive  liturgy,"  I  leave  you,  dear  sir,  an<l 

•  Levit.  xvi.  17.  t  Luke  i.  10.  \  Lectures,  vol.  iv.  p.  Itl 


PROHIBITION    OE    SCRIPTURES.  28f 

your  frienJs,  to  pronounce  upon  it,  after  I  v?hall  have  stated  the 
following  facts  :  1st,  that  St.  Paul  himself  wrote  an  epistle, 
which  forms  part  of  the  liturgy  of  all  Christian  churches,  to 
these  very  Romanists,  in  the  Greek  language,  though  they  them- 
selves made  use  of  the  Latin  :*  2dly,  that  the  Jews,  after  they 
had  exchanged  their  original  Hebrew  for  the  Chaldaic  tongue, 
during  the  Babylonish  captivity,  continued  to  perform  their  litur- 
gy in  the  former  language,  though  the  vulgar  did  not  understand 
it  :t  and  that  our  Saviour  Christ,  as  well  as  his  apostles,  and 
other  devout  friends,  attended  this  service  in  the  temple,  and  the 
Synagogue,  without  ever  censuring  it :  3dly,  that  the  Greek 
churches,  in  general,  no  less  than  the  Latin  Church,  retain  their 
original  pure  Greek  tongue  in  their  liturgy,  though  the  common 
people  have  forgotten  it,  and  adopted  different  barbarous  dialects 
instead  of  it  rf  4thly,  that  Patriarch  Luther  maintained,  against 
Carlostad,  that  the  language  of  public  worship  was  a  matter  of 
indifference.  Hence,  his  disciples  professed,  in  their  Augsburg 
Confession,  to  retain  the  Latin  language  in  certain  parts  of  their 
service.  Lastly,  that  when  the  Establishment  endeavored,  under 
Elizabeth,  and  afterwards  under  Charles  L  to  force  their  liturgy 
upon  the  Irish  Catholics,  it  was  not  thought  necessary  to  trans- 
late it  into  Irish,  but  it  was  constantly  read  in  English,  of  which 
the  natives  did  not  understand  a  word  :  thus  "  furnishing  the 
papists  with  an  excellent  argument  against  themselves,"  as  Dr. 
Heylin  observes. § 

The  bishop  has  next  a  long  letter  on  what  he  calls  the  prohi  ■ 
hitionof  the  Scriptures,  by  the  Romanists  ;  in  which  he  confuses 
and  disguises  the  subjects  he  treats  of,  to  beguile  and  inflame 
ignorant  readers.  I  have  treated  this  matter,  at  some  length, 
in  a  former  letter,  and  therefore  shall  be  brief  in  what  I  write 
upon  it  in  this :  but  what  I  do  write  shall  be  explicit  and  clear. 
It  is  a  wicked  calumny  then,  that  the  Catholic  Church  under- 
values the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  prohibits  the  use  of  them.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  she  that  has  religiously  preserved  them,  as 
the  inspired  word  of  God,  and  his  invaluable  gift  to  man,  during 
these  eighteen  centuries  :  it  is  she  alone  that  can  and  does 
vouch  for  their  au/henficlty,  their  jmrity,  and  their  inspiration. 
Bui  then,  she  knows  that  there  is  an  miwrittcn  w$rd  of  God, 
called  tradition,  as  well  as  a  written  word,  the  Scriptures  ;  that 
tlie  former  is  the  evidence  for  the  authority  of  the  latter,  and  that 
whe  ^  nations  had  been  converted,  and  churches  formed  by  the 
unwritten  word,  the    authority  of  this  was    nowise  abrogated 

«  St.  Jeroni,  Epist.  123.  t  Walton's  Polyglot  Proleg.  Hey,  &c. 

t  Mosheim,  by  Maclaine,  vol.  ii.  p.  575. 

§  Ward  has  successfully  ridiculed  this  attempt  in  his  England^  Jieforma 
thttf  Canto  II. 


290  LETTER    XL VII. 

by  the  inspired  epistles  and  gospels,  wl  ich  me  apostles  and 
evangelists  occasionally  sent  to  such  nations  or  churches.  In 
short,  both  these  words  together  form  the  Catholic  rule  of  faith. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  church,  consisting,  according  to  its  more 
general  division,  of  two  distinct  classes,  the  pastors  and  their 
flocks,  the  preachers  and  their  hearers  ;  each  has  his  particular 
«.lu1ies  in  the  point  under  consideration,  as  well  as  in  other  re- 
spects. The  pastors  are  bound  to  study  the  rule  of  faith  in 
tjoth  its  parts,  with  unwearied  application,  to  be  enabled  to  ac- 
quit themselves  of  the  Jlrst  of  all  their  duties,  .hat  of  preaching 
the  gospel  to  their  people.*  Hence  St.  Ambrose  calls  the  sacred 
Scripture  the  Sacerdotal  Book,  and  the  Council  of  Cologne  or- 
ders that  it  should  "  never  be  out  of  the  hands  of  ecclesiastics.'* 
In  fact,  the  Catholic  clergy  must,  and  do  employ  no  small  por- 
tion of  their  time,  every  day,  in  reading  diiferent  portions  of 
Holy  Writ.  But  no  such  obligation  is  generally  incumbent  on 
the  flock,  that  is,  on  the  laity ;  it  is  sufficient  for  them  to  hear 
the  word  of  God  from  those  whom  God  has  appointed  to  an- 
nounce and  to  explain  it  to  them,  whether  by  sermons,  or  cate- 
chisms, or  other  good  books,  or  in  the  tribunal  of  penance. 
Thus,  it  is  not  the  bounden  duty  of  all  good  subjects  to  read  and 
study  the  laws  of  their  country  :  it  is  sufficient  for  them  to  hear 
and  to  submit  to  the  decisions  of  the  judges,  and  other  legal  offi- 
cers, pronouncing  upon  them  ;  and,  by  the  same  rule,  the  latter 
would  be  inexcusable  if  they  did  not  make  the  law  and  consti 
tution  their  constant  study,  in  order  to  decide  right.  Still,  how. 
ever,  the  Catholic  Church  never  did  prohibit  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures  to  the  laity  :  she  only  required,  by  way  of  prepara- 
tion for  this  most  difficult  and  important  study,  that  they  shoulci 
have  received  so  much  education  as  would  enable  them  to  read 
the  sacred  books  in  their  original  languages,  or  in  that  ancient 
and  venerable  Latin  version,  the  fidelity  of  which  she  guaran- 
tees to  them ;  or  in  case  they  were  desirous  of  reading  it  in  a 
modern  tongue,  that  they  should  be  furnished  with  some  attesta- 
tion of  their  piety  and  docility,  in  order  to  prevent  their  turning 
hi'S  salutary  food  of  souls  into  a  deadly  poison,  as,  it  is  univer- 
sally confessed,  so  many  thousands  constantly  have  da  e.  At 
present,  however,  the  chief  pastors  have  everywhere  relaxed 
these  disciplinary  rules ;  and  vulgar  translations  of  the  whole 
Scripture  are  upon  sale,  and  open  to  every  one,  in  Italy  itself, 
with  the  express  approbation  of  the  Roman  pontiff.  In  these 
islands,  we  have  an  English  version  of  the  Bible  in  folio,  in 
quarto,  and  in  octavo  forms,  against  which  our  opponents  have 
no  other  objection  to  make,  except  that  it,  is  too  literal.'l'  that  is, 

•  Trid.  Sess.  v.  cap.  2.     Gess.  xxv.  cap.  4. 

t  See  the  Bishop  of  Lincola's  Elements  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  p.  10. 


PROHTBTTION    OF    SCRIPTURES.  291 

too  faithful  — But  Dr.  Porteus  professes  not  to  admit  of  any  re 
striction  whatever,  "  on  the  reading  of  what  heaven  hath  re- 
vealed, with  respect  to  any  part  of  mankind."  No  doubt,  ths 
revealed  truths  themselves  are  to  be  made  known  as  much  as  pos- 
sible to  all  mankind ;  but  it  does  not  follow  from  hence,  that  ali 
mankind  are  to  read  the  Scriptures  :  there  are  passages  in  them, 
which,  I  am  confident,  his  lordship  would  not  wish  his  daugh- 
ters to  peruse ;  and  which,  in  fact,  were  prohibited  to  the  Jews 
till  they  had  attained  the  age  of  thirty.*  Again,  as  Lord 
Clarendon,  Mr.  Grey,  Dr.  Hey,  &c.,  agree,  that  the  misappli- 
cation  of  Scripture  was  the  cause  of  the  destruction  of  church 
and  state,  and  of  the  murder  of  the  king  in  the  grand  rebellion  ; 
and  as  he  must  be  sensible,  from  his  own  observation,  that  the 
same  cause  exposed  the  nation  to  the  same  calamities  in  the 
Protestant  riots  of  1780,  I  am  confident  the  bishop,  as  a  Chris- 
tian, no  less  than  as  a  British  subject,  would  have  taken  the 
Bible  out  of  the  hands  of  Hugh  Peters,  Oliver  Cromwell,  Lord 
George  Gordon,  and  their  respective  crews,  if  this  had  been  in 
his  power,  I  will  affirm  the  same,  with  respect  to  Count 
Emanuel  Swedenborg,  the  founder  of  the  modern  sect  of  New 
Jerusalemites,  who  taught  that  no  one  had  understood  the  Scrip- 
tures, till  the  sense  of  them  was  revealed  to  him  ;  as  also  with 
respect  to  Joanna  Southcote,  foundress  of  a  still  more  modern 
sect,  and  who,  I  believe,  tormented  the  bishop  himself  with  her 
rhapsodies,  in  order  to  persuade  him  that  she  was  the  woman 
of  Genesis,  destined  to  crush  the  serpenfs  head,  and  the  woman 
of  the  Revelations,  clothed  with  the  sun,  and  crowned  with  twelve, 
stars.  Nay,  [  greatly  deceive  myself  if  the  prelate  would  not 
be  glad  to  take  away  every  hot-brained  dissenter's  Bible,  who 
employs  it  in  persuading  the  people  that  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land is  a  rag  of  Popery,  and  a  spawn  of  the  whore  of  Babylon. 
In  short,  whatever  Dr.  Porteus  may  choose  to  say  of  an  unre- 
stricted perusal  and  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  with  respect 
to  all  sorts  of  persons,  it  is  certain,  that  many  of  the  wisest  and 
most  learned  divines  of  his  church  have  lamented  this  as  one  of 
her  greatest  misfortunes.  I  will  quote  the  words  of  one  of  them, 
"  Aristarchus  of  old,  could  hardly  find  seven  wise  men  in  all 
Greece ;  but  amongst  us,  it  is  difficult  to  find  the  same  num. 
bei  of  ignorant  persons.  They  are  all  doctors  and  divinely  :.i. 
spired.  There  is  not  a  fanatic  or  a  mountebank,  from  the  low . 
est  class  of  the  people,  who  does  not  vent  his  dreams,  for  the 
word  of  God.  The  bottomless  pit  seems  to  be  opened,  and  there 
come  out  of  it  locusts  with  stings;  a  swarm  of  sectaries  ad 

*  St.  Jerjir.  in  Proem,  to  Ezech.     St.  Greg.  Naz.  de  Moderand.  Dup, 


29^2  LETTER    XLVII. 

heretics,  who  have  renewed  all  the  heresies  of  former  ages. 
and  added  to  them  numerous  and  monstrous  errors  of  theif 
own.*" 

Since  the  above  was  written,  the  Bihliomama,  or  rage  for  thf. 
letter  of  the  Bible,  has  been  carried,  in  this  country,  to  the  ut' 
most  possible  length,   by  persons  of  almost  every  description, 
Christians  and  infidels  ;  Trinitarians,  who  worship  God  in  three 
persons,  and  Unitarians,  who  hold  suc.i  worship  to  be  idola- 
trous ;   Pa3dobaptists,  who  believe  they  become  Christians  by 
baptism ;  Anabaptists,  who  plunge  such  Christians  into  the  wa- 
ter, as  mere  pagans;  and  Quakers,  who  ridicule  all  baptism, 
except  that  of  their  own    imagination ;    Arminian   Methodists, 
who  believe  themselves  to  have  been  justified  without  repent- 
ance, and  Antinomian  Methodists,  who  maintain  that  they  shall 
be  saved   without  keeping  the    laws   either  of  God  or  man ; 
Churchmen,  who  glory  in  having  preserved  the  w^hole  orders, 
and  part  of  the  missal   and  ritual  of  the  Catholics ;   and  the 
VJuntless  sects  of  dissenters,   who    join    in    condemning  these 
Jiings  as  antichristian  Popery.     All  these  have  forgotten,  for  a 
long  time,  their  characteristical  tenets,  and  united  in  enforcing 
the  reading  of  the  Bible  as  the  only  thing  necessary  !     The  Bible 
societies  are  content  that  all  these  contending  religionists  should  af- 
fix whatever  meaning  they  please  to  the  Bible,  provided  only  they 
read  the  text  of  the  Bible  !     Nay,  they  are  satisfied  if  they  can 
but  get  the  Hindoo  worshippers  of  Juggernaut,  the  Thibet  ado- 
rers of  the  Grand  Lama,  and  the  Taboo  cannibals  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  to  do  the  same  thing  ;  vainly  lancying  that  this  lecture 
^'       will  reform  the  vicious,  reclaim  the  erroneous,  and  convert  the 
*/^Cfc"4-v*  pagans.     In  the  mean  time,  the  experience  of  fourteen  years 
^^A**^  proves,  that  theft,  forgery,  robbery,  murder,  suicide,  and  other 
V  ^         crimes  go  on  increasing  with  the  most  alarming  rapidity  ;  that 
'•'^*  1.     i,.,every  sect  clings  to  its  original  errors,  that  not  one  pagan  iscon- 
4*  ^td.^""^  verted  to  Christianity,  nor  one  Irish  Catholic  persuaded  to  ex- 
f^jftj"       change  }iis  faith  for  a  Bible  book.     When  will  these  Bible  en- 
T*  thusiasts  comprehend  what  learned  and  wise  Christians  of  every 

Rge  have  known  and  taught,  that  the  word  of  God  consists  not  in 
the  letter  of  Scripture,  hut  in  the  meaning  of  it  !  Hence  it  fol- 
lows, that  a  Catholic  child,  who  is  grounded  in  his  short  but 
comprehensive  First  Catechism,  so  called,  knows  more  of  the  re- 
vealed word  of  God,  than  a  Methodist  preacher  does,  who  has 
read  the  whole  Bible  ten  times  over.  The  sentiment  expressed 
above  is  nO'  only  that  of  St.  Jeromf  and  other  Catholic  writers, 
but  also  of  the  learned  Protestant  bishop  whom  I  have  already 
quoted.     He  says,  "  The  word  of  God  does  not  consist  in  mere 

•  WtJton'a  Polyglot  Prolegom.  t  Cap.  I.  ad  Galat 


VAItrOUS    MISREPRESENTATIONS.  293 

letters,  but  in  the  sense  of  it,  which  no  one  can  better  interpret 
than  the  true  church,  to  which  Christ  committed  this  sacred  de- 
fOsit."*-^-I  am,  &c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XUTIL— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  JUN.,  ESQ. 
ON  VARIOUS  MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

Dear  &ir— 

The  learned  prelate,  who  is  celebrated  for  having  concentra 
ted  the  five  sermons  of  his  patron.  Archbishop  Seeker,  and  the 
more  diffusive  declamation  of  Primate  Tillotson  against  Popery, 
having  gone  through  his  regular  charges  on  this  topic,  tries,  in 
the  end,  to  overwhelm  the  Catholic  cause,  with  an  accumula- 
tion of  petty,  or,  at  least,  secondary  objections,  in  a  chapter 
which  he  entitles,  Various  Corruptions  and  Superstitions  of  ll  ". 
Church  cf  Rome.  The  first  of  these  is,  that  Catholics  "eqna 
the  apochryphal  with  the  canonical  books"  of  Scripture ;  to 
which  I  answer,  that  the  same  authority,  namely,  the  authority 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  in  the  fifth  century,  which  decided  on 
the  canonical  character  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Rev- 
elations, and  five  other  books  of  the  New  Testament,  on  the 
character  of  which,  till  that  time,  the  fathers  and  ecclesiastical 
writers  were  not  agreed,  decided  also  on  the  canonicity  of  the  books 
of  Tobias,  Judith,  and  five  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
being  those  which  the  prelate  alludes  to  as  apochryphal.  II" 
the  church  of  the  fifth  century  deserves  to  be  heard  in  one  part 
of  her  testimony,  she  evidently  deserves  to  be  heard  in  the  othei 
part. —  His  second  objection  is,  that  "the  Romish  Church,"  as 
he  calls  the  Catholic  Church,  has  made  "  a  modern  addition  of 
five  new  sacraments  to  the  two  appointed  by  Christ ;  making 
also  the  priest's  intention  necessary  to  the  benefit  of  them."  I 
have,  in  the  course  of  these  letters,  vind'cated  tl  ".  divine  institu- 
tion of  these  five  sacraments,  and  have  shown  that  they  are  ac- 
knowledged to  be  sacraments,  no  less  than  the  other  two,  by  the 
Nestcrian  and  Eutychian  heretics,  &c.,  who  separated  from  the 
c.iurch  almost  fourteen  hundred  years  ago,  and,  in  short,  by  ail 
t.ie  Christian  congregations  of  the  world,  except  a  comparatively 
few  modern  ones,  called  Protestants,  in  the  north  of  Europe.  Is 
it  from  ignorance,  or  wilful  misrepresentation,  that  the  Bishop 
of  London  charges  "  the  Romish  Church  with  the  mctdern  ad  li- 
tion  of  five  new  sacraments  ?"     With  respect  to  the  intention  of 

*  Walton's  Proleg. 
25* 


2y4  LETTER  XLVIII. 

the  mvnriier  of  a  sacrament,  I  presume  there  is  no  sensible  per- 
son  who  does  not  see  the  essential  difference  tliere  is  between 
ttn  action  that  is  seriously  performed,  and  the  mimichwg  or  mock- 
errj  of  it  by  a  comedian  or  buffoon.  Luther,  indeed,  wrote 
that  "the  devil  himself  would  perform  a  true  sacrament,  if  he 
used  the  right  matter  and  form ;"  but  I  trust  that  you,  sir,  and 
my  other  friends,  will  not  subscribe  to  such  an  extravagance, 
I  have  also  discussed  the  subjects  of  relics  and  miracles,  which 
the  prelate  next  brings  forward,  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  for 
me  to  say  any  thing  more  about  them,  than  that  the  church,  in- 
stead of  "  venerating  fictitious  relics,  and  inventing  lying  mira- 
cles," as  he  most  calumniously  accuses  her  of  doing,  is  strict  to 
an  excess  in  examining  the  proofs  of  them  both,  as  he  would 
learn,  if  he  took  the  pains  to  inquire.  In  short,  there  are  but 
about  two  or  three  articles  in  his  lordship's  accumulated  charges 
against  his  mother  church,  which  seem  to  require  a  particular 
answer  from  me  at  present.  One  of  these  is  tiie  following : 
" '  f  the  same  bad  tendency  is  their  (the  Catholics)  engaging 
F  jh  multitudes  of  people  in  vows  of  celibacy  and  useless  re- 
rement  from  the  world,  their  obliging  them  to  silly  austeritie's 
and  abstinences,  of  no  real  value,  as  matters  of  great  merit." 
In  the  first  place,  the  church  never  engages  any  person  whom- 
soever in  a  vow  of  celibacy ;  on  the  contrary,  she  exerts  her 
utmost  power  and  severest  censures  to  prevent  tliis  obligation 
from  being  contracted  rashly,  or  under  any  undue  irfmence.* 
True  it  is,  she  teaches  that  continency  is  a  state  of  greater  per- 
iection  than  matrimony  ;  but  so  does  St.  Paul,f  and  Christ  him- 
self,:}: in  words  too  explicit  and  forcible  to  admit  of  controversy 
on  the  part  of  any  sincere  Christian.  True  it  is,  also,  that 
having  the  choice  of  her  sacred  ministers,  she  selects  those  for 
the  service  of  her  altar,  and  for  assisting  the  faithful  in  their 
spiritual  wants,  who  voluntarily  embrace  this  more  perfect 
state  ;§  but  so  has  the  Establishment  expressed  her  wish  to  do 
also,  in  that  very  act  which  allows  her  clergy  to  marry. ||     In 

♦  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  xxv.  De  Reg.  cap.  15,  16,  17,  18. 

t  See  the  whole  chapter  vii.  of  1  Cor.  t  Matt.  xix.  IQ. 

§  The  second  Council  of  Carthage,  Can.  3,  and  Epiphanjus,  Haer.  48,  59 
trace  the  discipline  of  sacerdotui  continence  up  to  the  apost  es. 

I)  "  Although  it  were  not  only  better  for  the  estimation  of  priests  and  other 
ministers  to  live  chaste,  sole,  and  separated  from  women,  and  the  bond  of 
marriage,  but  also  they  might  thereby  the  better  attend  to  the  administration  of 
the  gospel ;  and  it  were  to  be  wished  that  they  would  willingly  endeavor 
themselves  to  a  life  of  chastity,"  &c.  2  Ewd.  vi.  c.  21.  See  the  injunction 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  against  ihe  admission  of  women  into  colleges,  cathe- 
drals, &c.,  in  Strype's  Life  of  Parker.  See  likewise  a  remarkable  instance  of 
her  rudeness  to  that  archbishop's  wife.  Ibid,  and  in  Nicol's  Progresses,  A 
D.  1561. 


VARIOUS    MISREPRESENTATIONS.  295 

tike  manner,  I  need  go  no  further  than  the  Homily  on  Fasting, 
or  tlie  "  Table  of  Vigils,  Fasts,  and  Days  of  Abstinence,  to  bo 
observed  in  the  year,"  prefixed  to  the  Common  Prayer-hook,  to 
justify  our  doctrine  and  practice,  which  the  bishop  finds  fault 
with,  in  the  eyes  of  every  consistent  church  Protestant.  I  be- 
lieve the  most  severe  austerities  of  our  saints  never  surpassed 
those  of  Christ's  precursor,  whom  he  so  much  commended,* 
clothed  as  he  was  with  hair-cloth,  and  fed  with  he  locusts  of 
ihe  desen. 

In  a  former  letter  to  your  society,  I  have  replied  to  what  the 
bishop  here  says  concerning  the  deposing  of  kings  by  the  Roman 
pontiff,  and  have  established  facts  by  which  it  appears,  that 
more  princes  were  actually  dispossessed  of  the  whole,  or  a  large 
part,  of  their  dominions  by  the  pretented  gospel  liberty  of  the 
Reformation,  within  the  first  fifty  years  of  this  being  proclaimed, 
than  the  popes  had  attempted  to  depose  during  the  preceding  fif- 
teen hundred  years  of  their  supremacy.  To  this  accusation 
another  of  a  more  alarming  nature  is  tacked,  that  of  our  "  an- 
nulling he  most  sacred  promises  and  engagements,  when  made 
to  the  prejudice  of  the  church."  These  are  other  words  for  the 
vile,  hackneyed  calumny  of  our  not  keeping  faith  with  heretics.^ 
In  refutation  of  this,  I  might  appeal  to  the  doctrine  of  our  the- 
ologians4  and  to  the  oaths  of  the  British  Catholics  ;  but  I  choose 
rather  to  appeal  to  historical  facts,  and  to  the  practical  lessons 
of  the  leading  men  by  whom  these  have  been  conducted.  I  have 
mentioned  that  when  the  Catholic  queen,  Mary,  came  to  the 
throne,  a  Protestant  usurper.  Lady  Jane,  was  set  up  against  her, 
and  that  the  bishops,  Cranmer,  Ridley,  Latimer,  Hooper,  Rogers, 
Poynet,  Sandys,  and  every  other  Protestant  of  any  note,  broke 
their  allegiance  and  engagements  to  her,  for  no  other  reason 
than  because  she  was  a  Catholic,  and  the  usurper  a  Protestant. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  Mary  was  succeeded  by  her  Protest- 
ant sister,  Elizabeth,  though  the  Catholics  were  then  far  more 
numerous  and  powerful  than  the  Protestants,  not  a  hand  was 
raised,  nor  a  seditious  sermon  preached  against  her.  In  the 
mean  time,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Tweed,  where  the  new  gos- 
pellers had  deposed  their  sovereign,  and  usurped  her  power, 
their  apostle.  Knox,  publicly  preached,  that  "  neither  promise 
nor  oath  can  oblige  any  man  to  obey,  or  give  assistance  to   y 

*  Matt.  xi.  9. 

t  In  the  Protestant  Charter-school  Catechism,  which  is  taught  by  author- 
ity, the  following  question  and  answer  occur,  p.  9.  "  Q  How  do  PapisU 
treat  those  whom  they  call  heretics  ?"  A.  They  hold  that  faith  is  not  to 
De  kept  with  heretics,  and  that  the  pope  can  absolve  subjects  from  their  oaUl 
of  allegiance  to  their  sovereigns." 

t  See  in  particular  the  Jesuit  Becanus,  De  Fide  Hareticis  prestunda. 


296  LETTER    XLVIII. 

rants  against  God  ;"*  to  which  lesson  his  colleague,  Goodman, 
added  :  "  If  governors  fall  from  God,  to  the  gallows  with  them.""f 
A  third  fellow-laborer  in  the  same  gospel  cause,  Buchanan, 
maintained,  that  "  princes  may  be  deposed  by  their  people,  if 
they  be  tyrants  against  God  and  his  truth,  and  tliat  their  sub- 
jects  are  free  from  their  oaths  and  obedience.":}:  The  same  in 
Bubs.ance  were  the  maxims  of  Calvin,  Beza,  and  the  Huguenots 
of  France,  in  general  ;  the  temporal  interest  of  their  religion 
was  the  ruling  principle  of  their  morality.  But,  to  return  to 
cur  own  country  :  the  enemies  of  church  and  state  having  nunted 
down  the  Earl  of  Strafford,  and  procured  him  to  be  attainted  of 
high  treason,  the  king,  Charles  I.,  declared  that  he  could  not,  in 
conscience,  concur  to  his  death;  when,  the  case  being  referred  to 
the  archbishops  Usher  and  Williams,  and  three  other  Anglican 
bishops,  they  decided  (in  spite  of  his  majesty's  conscience,  and 
his  oath  to  administer  justice  and  mercy)  that  he  might,  in  con- 
science, send  this  innocent  peer  to  the  Mock,  which  he  did  accord- 
ingly.§  I  should  like  to  ask  Bishop  Porteus,  whether  this  de- 
cision  of  his  predecessors  was  not  the  dispensation  of  an  oath, 
and  the  annulling  of  the  most  sacred  of  all  ohligations  ?  In  like 
manner  most  of  the  leading  n.en  of  the  nation,  with  most  of  the 
clergy,  having  sworn  to  the  solemn  league  and  covenant,  for  th'^ 
more  effectual  extirpation  of  Popery,  they  were  dispensed  with 
from  the  keeping  of  it  by  an  express  clause  in  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity. ||  But  whereas  by  a  clause  of  the  oath  in  the  same 
act,  all  subjects  of  the  realm,  down  to  constables  and  school-mas- 
ters, were  obliged  to  swear,  that  "  It  is  not  lawful,  upon  any 
pretence  whatsoever,  to  take  up  arms  against  the  king;"  this 
oath,  in  its  turn,  was  univ^^-sally  dispensed  with  in  the  churches 
and  in  Parliament  at  the  /evolution.  I  have  mentioned  these 
few  facts  and  maxims  concerning  Protestant  dispensations  of 
oaths  and  engagements,  in  case  any  of  your  society  may  objec. 
that  some  popes  have  been  too  free  in  pronouncing  such  dispen- 
sations.    Should  this  have  been  the  case,  they  alone,  personally, 

*  In  his  book  addressed  to  the  nobles  and  people  of  Scotland. 

+  De  Obedient. 

t  History  of  Scotland.  The  same  was  the  express  doctrine  of  the  Geneva 
Bible,  translated  by  Coverdale,  Goodman,  &,c.,  in  that  city,  and  in  common 
Uee  among  the  English  Protestants,  till  King  James's  reign  ;  for  in  a  note  on 
verse  12  ol  2d  Matt,  these  translators  expressly  say,  "  A  promise  ought  not 
to  be  kept  where  God's  honor  and  peaching  of  his  truth  is  inju/ed."  Hist. 
Acct.  of  Eng.  Translations,  by  A.  Johnson,  in  Watson's  Collect,  vol.  iii.  p.  93 

§  Collier's  Church  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  801.  On  the  other  hand,  when  sev. 
eral  of  the  Parliament's  soldiers,  who  had  been  taken  prisoners  at  Brentford, 
had  sworn  never  again  to  bear  arms  against  the  king,  they  were  "  absolved 
from  that  oath,"  says  Clarendon,  "  by  their  divines  "  Exam,  of  Neal's  Hist 
V>y  Grey,  vol.  iii.  p  10.  ||  Statute  13  and  14  Car.  II.  cap.  4 


VARIOUS    MISREPRESENTATIONS.  297 

and  not  the  Catholic  Church,  were  accountable  for  ilj  bolh  to 
God  aiul  man. 

I  have  often  wondered,  in  a  particular  manner,  at  the  confi- 
dence with  which  Bishop  Porteus  asserts  and  denies  facts  of  an- 
cient church-history,  in  opposition  to  the  known  truth.  An  in- 
stance of  1  his  occurs  in  the  conclusion  of  the  chapter  before  me, 
where  he  says : — "  The  primitive  church  did  not  att^^mpt,  foi 
several  hundred  years,  to  make  any  doctrine  necessary,  which 
we  do  not:  as  the  learned  well  know  from  their  writings."* 
The  falsehood  of  this  position  must  strike  you,  on  looking  back 
to  the  authorities  adduced  by  me  from  the  ancient  fathers  and 
historians,  in  proof  of  the  several  points  of  controversy  which  I 
have  maintained  :  but,  to  render  it  still  more  glaring,  I  will 
recur  to  the  histories  of  AERIUS  and  VIGILANTIUS,  two 
different  heretics  of  the  fourth  century.  Both  St.  Epiphaniusf 
and  St.  Augustin+  rank  Aerius  among  the  heresiarchs,  or  found- 
ers of  heresy,  and  both  give  exactly  the  same  account  of  his 
three  characteristical  errors ;  the  first  of  which  is  avowed  by 
all  Protestants,  namely,  that  "  prayers  and  sacrifices  are  not  to 
be  offered  up  for  the  dead  ;"  and  the  two  others  by  most  of 
them  ;  namely,  that  "  there  is  no  obligation  of  observing  the 
appointed  days  of  fasting,  and  that  priests  ought  not  to  be  dis- 
tinguished, in  any  respect,  from  bishops. §  So  far  were  the  pri- 
mitive Christians  from  tolerating  these  heresies,  that  the  sup- 
poiters  of  them  were  denied  the  use  of  a  place  of  worship,  and 
were  forced  to  perform  it  in  forests  and  caverns. ||  Vigilantius 
likewise  condemned  prayers  for  the  dead,  but  he  equally  repro- 
bated prayers  to  the  saints,  the  honoring  of  their  relics,  and  the 
celibacy  of  the  clergy,  together  with  vows  of  continence  in 
general.  Against  these  errors,  which  I  need  not  tell  you.  Dr. 
Porteus  now  patronises,  as  Vigilantius  formerly  did,  St.  Jerom 
directs  all  the  thunder  of  his  eloquence,  declaring  them  to  be 
sacrilegious,  and  the  author  of  them  to  be  a  detestable  heretic.^ 
The  learned  Fleury  observes,  that  the  impious  novelties  of  this 
heretic  made  no  proselytes,  and,  therefore,  that  there  was  no 
need  of  a  council  to  condemn  them.**  Finally,  to  convince 
yourself,  dear  sir,  how  far  the  ancient  fathers  were  from  tole- 
rating different  communions  or  religious  tenets  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  conformably  to  the  prelate's  monstrous  system,  of  a 
Catholic  Church,  composed  of  all  the  discordant  and  disunited 
sects  in  Christendom,  be  pleased  to  consult  again  the  passages 
which  I  have  collected   from  the  works  of  the   former,  in  my 

*  P.  73.  t  Haeres's  75.  \  De  Haeres.  torn.  vi.  Ed.  Frob. 

^  Ibid.  St.  John  Damasccn  and  St,  Isidore   equally  condemn  these  tenati 
M  heretical.  ||  Fleury's  Hist.  ad.  An.  .392. 

^  Epist.  1  and  3,  adversus  Vigilan.  **  Ad.  An.  405, 


299  LETTER  XLIX. 

fourteenth  letter  to  your  society  ;  or,  what  is  still  more  demon 
strative,  on  this  point,  observe,  in  ecclesiastical  history,  hoi* 
Ihe  Quarto-decimans,  the  Novatians,*  the  Donatists,  and  the  Lu 
cif'erians,  though  their  respective  errors  are  mere  mole-hills, 
compared  with  the  mountains  which  separate  the  Protestant 
communions  from  ours,  were  held  forth  as  heretics  by  the  fathers, 
anj  treated  as  such  by  the  church,  in  her  councils. — I  am,  <&c. 

John  Milner. 


LETTER  XLIX.— TO  JAMES  BROWN,  J  UN.    ESQ 

ON  RELIGIOUS  PERSECUTION. 
Dear  sir — 

I  promised  to  treat  the  subject  of  religious  persecution  apan  , 
a  subject  of  the  utmost  importance  in  itself,  and  which  is  spoken 
of  by  the  Bishop  of  London  in  the  following  terms  :  "  They, 
the  Romish  Church,  zealously  maintain  their  claim  of  punish- 
ing whom  they  please  to  call  heretics,  with  penalties,  imprison- 
ment, tortures,  and  death. "f  Another  writer,  whom  I  have 
quoted  above,  says,  that  this  church  "  breathes  the  very  spirit 
of  cruelty  and  murder."^  Indeed,  most  Protestant  controver- 
tists  seem  to  vie  with  each  other,  in  the  vehemence  and  bitter- 
ness of  the  terms  by  which  they  endeavor  to  affix  this  most 
odious  charge  of  cruelty  and  murder,  on  the  Catholic  Church. 
This  is  the  favorite  topic  of  preachers,  to  excite  the  hatred  of 
their  hearers  against  their  fellow  Christians  ;  this  is  the  last  re- 
source of  baffled  hypocrites.  If  you  admit  the  Papists,  they  cry, 
to  equal  rights,  these  wretches  must  and  ivill  certainly  murder  you, 
as  soon  as  they  can  :  the  fourth  Lateran  Council  has  established 
the  principle,  and  the  bloody  Queen  Mary  has  acted  upon  it. 

I.  To  proceed  regularly  in  this  matter,  I  begin  with  express, 
ly  denying  the  Bishop  of  London's  charge  ;  namely,  that  the 
Catholic  Church  "maintains  a  claim  of  punishing  heretics  with 
penalties,  imprisonment,  tortures,  and  death  ;"  and  I  assert,  on 
the  contrary,  that  she  disclaims  the  power  of  so  doing.  Pope 
Leo  the  Great,  who  flourished  in  the  fourth  century,  writing 
about  the  Manicheun  heretics,  who,  as  he  asserted,  laid  all 
modesty  aside,  prohibiting  the  matrimonial  connection,  and  sub- 
yerti'.ig  all  law,  human  and  divine,"  says,  that  "  the  ecclesias- 

*  St.  Cyprian  being  consulted  about  the  nature  of  Novatian's  errors,  an> 
Bwered  :  "  There  is  no  need  of  a  strict  inquiry  what  errors  he  teaches,  while 
he  teaches  out  of  the  church."  He  elsewhere  writes  :  "  The  church  being 
one,  cannot  be,  at  the  same  time,  within  and  without.  If  she  be  with  No. 
vatian,  she  is  not  with  (Pope)  Cornelius  ;  if  she  be  with  Cornelius,  Noyatiaa 
IS  not  in  her."     Epist.  76,  ad  Mas:. 

+  Confut.  p.  7l.  I  De  Coetlogan's  Seasonable  Caution,  p.  1ft. 


PSBSSCUTION.  299 

tica!  lenity  was  content,  even  in  this  case,  witn  the  sacerdotal 
judgment,  and  avoided  all  santruinary  punishments,"*  however 
the  secular  emperors  might  inflict  them  for  reasons  of  state.  In 
the  same  century,  two  Spanish  bishops,  Ithacius  and  Idacius, 
having  interfered  in  the  capital  punishment  of  certaiii  Priscil- 
lian  heretics,  both  St.  Ambrose  and  St.  Martin  refused  to  hold 
communion  vvith  them,  even  to  gratify  an  emperor,  whose  cle- 
mency they  were  soliciting  in  behalf  of  certain  clients.  Long 
before  their  time,  Tertullian  had  taught,  that  "  It  does  not  belong 
to  n  ligion  to  force  religion  ;  "-I-  and  a  considerable  time  after,  when 
St.  A-ugustin  and  his  companions,  the  envoys  of  Pope  Gregory 
the  Great,  had  converted  our  King  Ethelbert  to  the  Christian 
faiih,  they  particularly  inculcated  to  him,  not  to  use  forcible 
means  to  induce  any  of  his  subjects  to  follow  his  example.:]:  But 
what  need  of  more  authorities  on  this  head,  since  our  canon 
law,  as  it  stood  in  ancient  times,  and  as  it  still  stands,  renders 
all  those  who  have  actively  concurred  to  the  death  or  mutila- 
tion of  any  human  being,  whether  Catholic  or  heretic,  Jew  or 
pagan,  or  even  in  a  just  war,  or  by  exercising  the  art  of  surge- 
ry, or  by  judicial  proceedings,  irregular  ;  that  is  to  say,  such 
persons  cannot  be  promoted  to  holy  orders,  or  to  exercise  those 
orders,  if  they  have  actually  received  them.  Nay,  when  an 
ecclesiastical  judge  or  tribunal  has,  after  due  examination,  pro- 
nounced that  any  person,  accused  of  obstinate  heresy,  is  actual- 
ly guilty  of  it,  he  is  required  by  the  church,  expressly,  to  declare 
in  her  name,  that  her  power  extends  no  further  than  such  deci- 
sion :  and,  in  case  the  obstinate  heretic  is  liable,  by  the  laws  of 
the  state,  to  suffer  death  or  mutilation,  the  judge  is  required  to 
pray  for  his  pardon.  Even  the  Council  of  Constance,  in  con- 
demning John  Huss  of  heresy,  declared  that  its  power  extended 
no  further. § 

II.  But,  whereas  many  heresies  are  subversive  of  the  estab- 
lished governments,  the  public  peace,  and  natural  morality,  it 
doos  not  belong  to  the  church  to  prevent  princes  and  states  from 
exercising  their  just  authority  in  repressing  and  punishing  them, 
when  this  is  judged  to  be  the  case  ;  nor  would  any  clergyman 
incur  irregularity  by  exhorting  princes  and  magistrates  to  pro- 
vide for  those  important  objects,  and  the  safety  of  the  church 
itself,  by  repressing  its  disturbers ;  provided  he  did  not  concur 
to  the  death  or  mutilation  of  any  particular  disturber.  Thus  it 
appears  that,  though  there  have  been  persecuting  laws  in  many 
Catholic  states,  the  church  itself,  so  for  from  claiming^  actually 
disclaims  the  power  of  persecuting. 

III.  Bui  Dr.  Porteus  signifies, ||  that  the  church  itself  haa 

•  Epist.  ad  Turib.  t  Ad  Scapul.  t  Bed.  Ecc.  Hig.  1.  i.  c.  96 

^  Sess  XV     See  Labbe's  Concil.  t.  xii.  p.  129.  ||  Conf.  p.  47. 


800  LETTER    XLIX. 

claimed  this  power  in  the  third  canon  of  the  Fojrth  Lateran 
Council,  A.  D.  1215,  by  the  tenor  of  which,  tennporal  lords  ann 
magistratt\s  were  required  to  exterminate  all  heretics  from  their 
respective  territories,  under  pain  of  these  being  confiscated  <o 
their  sovereign  prince,  if  they  were  laymen,  and  to  their  several 
churches,  in  case  they  were  clergymen.     From  this  canon  it 
has  been,  a  hundred  times  over,  argued  against  Catholic?,  of 
late  years,  not  only  that  their  church  claims  a  right  to  extern 
minate  heretics,  but  also  requires  those  of  her  communion  to  aid 
and  assist  in  this  work  of  destruction,  at  all  times,  and  in  all 
places.     But  it  must  first  be  observed  by  those  who  were  present 
at  this  council,  and  by  whose  authority  these  decrees  of  a  tem- 
poral nature,  were  passed.     There  were  then  present,  besides 
the  pope  and  the  bishops,  either  in  person  or  by  their  ambas- 
sadors, the  Greek  and  the  Latin  emperors  ;  the  kings  of  Eng- 
land, France,  Hungary,  the  Sicilies,  Arragon,  Cyprus,  and  Je- 
rusalem ;  and  the  representatives  of  a  vast  many  other  prinr-i- 
palities  and  states  ;  so  that,  in  fact,  this  council  was  a  congress 
of  Christendom,  temporal   as  well  as  spiritual.     We  must,  in 
the  next  place,  remark  the  principal  business  which  drew  them 
together.     It  was  the  common  cause  of  Christianity  and  human 
nature ;    namely,   the  extirpation    of    the  Manichean  heresy ; 
which  taught,  that  there  were  two  first  principles,  or  deities  :  one 
of  them,  the  creator  of  devils,  of  animal  flesh,  of  wine,  of  the 
Old  Testament,  &;c.     The  other,  the  author  of  good  spirits,  of 
the  New  Testament,  &c.  ;  that  unnatural   lusts  were  lawful, 
but  not  the  propagation  of  the   human   species — that  perjurjr 
was  permitted  to  them,  &c.*     This  detestable  heresy,  which 
had  caused  so  much  wickedness  and  bloodshed  in  the  preceding 
centuries,  broke  out  with  fresh  fury,  in  the  twelfth   century, 
throughout  different  parts  of  Europe,  more  particularly  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Albi,  in  Languedoc,  where  they  were  support 
ed  by  the  powerful  Counts  of  Thoulouse,  Cumminges,  Foix,  and 
other  feudatory  princes  ;  as  also,  by  numerous  bodies  of  banditti, 
called  Rotarii,  whom  they  hired  for  this  purpose.    Thus  strength- 
ened, they  set  their  sovereigns  at  defiance,  carrying  fire  and 
sword  through  their  dominions,  murdering  their  subjects,  parti- 
cularly the  clergy,  burning  the  churches  and  monasteries ;  in 
short,  waging  open  war  with  them,  and,  at  the  same  time,  with 
Christianity,  morality,  and   human  nature  itself;  casting  /ne 
Bible  into  the  jakes,  profaning  the  altar-plate,  and  practising 
their  detestable   rites  for  the  extinction  of  the  human  specie?. 

•  See  the  Protestant  historian  Moshefni's  account  of  the  shocking  violation 
Df  decency,  and  other  crimes,  of  which  the  Albigenses,  Brethren  of  the  Fret 
ipirit,  &,c.,  were  guilty  in  the  13th  ccnturv.     Vol.  iii,  p.  284. 


PERSECUTIOIT.  801 

ft  was  to  put  an  end  to  these  horrors  that  the  great  Later<»n 
Council  was  held  in  the  year  1215,  when  the  heresy  itself  was 
condemned  by  the  proper  authority  of  the  church,  and  the  lands 
of  the  feudatory  lords,  who  protected  it,  were  declared  to  be  for- 
feited to  the  sovereign  princes,  of  whom  thoy  were  held^  by  an 
authority  derived  from  those  sovereign  princes.  The  deei'ee  of 
the  council  regarded  only  the  prevailing  heretics  of  that  time,  vv  ho, 
"  though  wearing  different  faces,"  being  indifferently  called  AU 
bigenses,  Cathari,  Poplicolse,  Paterini,  Bulgari,  Bogomillii,  Be- 
guini,  Beguardi,  and  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  &c..  were 
"all  tied  together  by  the  tails,"  as  the  council  expressed  it,  like 
Sampson's  foxes,  in  the  same  band  of  Manicheanism.*  Nor 
was  this  exterminating  canon  ever  put  in  force,  against  any 
other  heretics,  except  the  Albigenses,  nor  even  against  them, 
except  in  the  case  of  the  above-named  counts.  It  was  never  so 
much  as  published,  or  talked  of,  in  these  islands:  so  little  have 
Protestants  to  fear  from  their  Catholic  fellow-subjects,  by  reason 
of  the  third  canon  of  the  Council  of  Lateran.f 

IV.  But  they  are  chiefly  the  Smithfield  fires  of  Queen  Ma- 
ry's reign,  which  furnish  matter  for  the  inexhaustible  declama- 
tion of  Protestant  controvertists,  and  the  unconquerable  preju- 
dices of  the  Protestant  populace  against  the  Catholic  religion  ; 
as  breathing  "  the  very  spirit  of  cruelty  and  murder,"  accord- 
ing to  the  expression  of  one  of  the  above-quoted  orators.  Nev 
ertheless,  I  have  unanswerably  demonstrated  elsewhereij:  that, 
"  if  Queen  Mary  was  a  persecutor,  it  was  not  in  virtue  of  the 
tenets  of  her  religion  that  she  persecuted."  I  observed,  that 
during  almost  two  years  of  her  reign,  no  Protestant  was  molest- 
ed on  account  of  his  religion  ;  that  in  the  instructions  which 
the  pope  sent  her  for  her  conduct  on  the  throne,  there  is  not  a  word 
to  recommend  persecution  :  nor  is  th^^e  in  the  synod,  which  the 
pope's  legate.  Cardinal  Pole,  held  at  that  time,  one  word,  as 
Burnet  remarks,  in  favor  of  persecution.  This  representative 
of  his  holiness  even  opposed  the  persecution  project,  with  all 
his  influence,  as  did  King  Philip's  chaplain  also,  who  even 
preached  against  it,  and  defied  the  advocates  of  it  to  produce  an 
auiiiority  from  Scripture  in  its  favor.     In  a  word,  we  have  the 

*  For  a  succinct,  yet  clear,  account  of  Manicheanism,  see  Bossuet's  Varit- 
6ons,  Book  xi. ;  also,  for  many  additional  circumstances  relating  to  it,  see 
Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  Letter  IV. 

t  For  an  account  of  the  rebellious  and  anti-social  doctrine  and  practices  ol 
.he  Wickliffites  and  Hussites,  see  the  last-quoted  work,  Letter  IV. ;  also 
History  of  Winchester,  vol.  i.  p.  298. 

X  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  Letter  IV.,  on  Persecution  ;  also  History  of 
Winchester,  vol.  i.  p.  354,  &c.  See  in  the  former,  p.  149,  &c.,  proofs  i»i  th# 
infidelity  of  the  famous  mariyrologist,  John  Fox,  and  of  tha  great  i  b>it« 
ments  which  are  tD  be  made  in  his  account  of  the  Protestant  suHerera. 

26 


802  LETTER    XTJt. 

argumcns,  made  use  of  in  the  queen's  council,  by  those  advo» 
Gates  ibr  persecution,  Gardiner,  Bonner,  &c.,  by  whose  advice 
it  was  adopted  ;  yet  none  of  them  pretended  that  the  doctrine 
of 'he  Catholic  Church  required  such  a  measure.  On  the  con- 
trary, all  their  arguments  are  grounded  on  motives  of  state 
policy.  At  the  same  time,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  first 
Protestants  in  this,  as  in  other  countries,  were  possessed  of  and 
actuated  by  a  spirit  of  violence  and  rebellion.  Lady  Jane  was 
se':  up,  and  supported  in  opposition  to  the  daughters  of  King 
Henry,  by  all  the  chief  men  of  the  party,  both  churchmen  and 
laymen,  as  I  have  already  observed.  Mary  had  hardly  for- 
given this  rebellion,  when  a  fresh  one  was  raised  against  her  by 
the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  Sir  Thomas  Wyat,  and  all  the  leading 
Protestants.  In  the  mean  time,  her  life  was  attempted  by  some 
of  them,  and  her  death  was  publicly  prayed  for  by  others ; 
while  Knox  and  Goodman,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Tweed,  were 
publishing  books  Against  the  monstrous  Regimen  of  Women,  and 
exciting  the  people  of  this  country,  as  well  as  their  own,  to  put 
their  Jezabel  to  death.  Still,  I  grant,  persecution  was  not  the 
way  to  diminish  either  the  number  or  the  violence  of  the  enthu- 
siastic insurgents.  With  toleration  and  prudence  on  the  part 
of  the  governors,  the  paroxysm  of  the  governed  would  quickly 
have  subsided. 

V.  Finally,  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  intolerance 
of  Mary,  I  trust  that  this  charge  will  not  he  brought  against 
the  next  Catholic  sovereign,  James  II.  I  have  elsewhere* 
shown,  that,  when  Duke  of  York,  he  used  his  best  endeavors 
to  get  the  act  De  Heretico  Comhurendo  repealed,  and  to  afford 
an  asylum  to  the  Protestant  exiles,  who  flocked  to  England  from 
France,  on  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz,  and,  in  short, 
that  when  king,  he  lost  his  crown  in  the  cause  of  toleration  : 
his  Declaration  of  Liberty  of  Conscience  having  been  the  deter- 
mining cause  of  his  deposition.  But  what  need  of  words  to 
disprove  the  odious  calumny,  that  Catholics  "  breathe  the  spirit 
of  cruelty  and  murder,"  and  are  obliged,  by  their  religion,  to 
be  persecutors,  when  every  one  of  our  gentry  who  has  made 
the  tour  of  France,  Italy,  and  Germany,  has  experienced  the 
C  "^ntrary,  and  has  been  as  cordially  received  by  the  pope  him- 
self, in  his  metropolis  of  Rome,  (where  he  is  both  prince  and 
bishop,)  in  the  character  of  an  English  Protestant,  as  if  he  were 
known  to  be  the  most  zealous  Catholic !  Still,  I  fear,  there 
an  some  individuals  in  your  society,  as  there  are  many 
other  Protestants  of  my  acquaintance  elsewhere,  who  cling 
fast  to  this  charge  against  Catholics,  of  persecution,   as  the 

•  History  of  Winchester,  vol.  i.  p.  436;  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  p.  376. 


PERSECUTION.  303 

last  resource  for  their  own  intolerance  ;  and,  it  being  true,  that 
Catholics  have,  in  some  times  and  places,  unsheathed  the  sword 
against  the  heterodox,  these  persons  insist  upon  it,  that  it  is  an 
essential  part  of  the  Catholic  religion  to  persecute.  On  the 
other  hand,  many  Protestants,  either  from  ignorance  or  policy, 
now-a-days,  claim  for  themselves,  exclusively,  the  credit  o.' 
toleration.  As  an  instance  of  this,  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln 
writes: — "  I  consider  toleration  as  a  mark  of  the  true  church, 
and  as  a  principle  recommended  by  the  most  emment  of  our 
reformers  and  divines."*  In  these  circumstances,  I  know  but 
one  argument  to  stop  the  mouths  of  such  disputants ;  which  is, 
to  prove  to  them,  that  persecution  has  not  only  been  more  gen- 
erally practised  by  Protestants  than  by  Catholics,  but  also,  thai 
it  has  been  more  warmly  defended  and  supported  by  the  most 
eminent  "  reformers  and  divines  "  of  their  party,  than  by  their 
opponents. 

I.  The  learned  Bergier  defies  Protestants  to  mention  so 
much  as  a  town,  in  which  their  predecessors,  on  becoming  mas- 
ters of  it,  tolerated  a  single  Catholic. f  Rousseau,  who  was  ed- 
ucated a  Protestant,  says,  that  "  the  Reformation  was  intolerant 
from  its  cradle,  and  its  authors  universally  persecutors.":}: 
Bayle,  who  was  a  Calvinist,  has  published  much  the  same 
thing.  Finally,  the  Huguenot  minister,  Jurieu,  acknowledges 
that  "  Geneva,  Switzerland,  the  Republics,  the  Electors,  and 
Princes  of  the  Empire,  England,  Scotland,  Sweden,  and  Den- 
mark, had  all  employed  the  power  of  the  state  to  abolish 
Popery,  and  establish  the  Re  formation. §  But  to  proceed  to 
other  more  positive  proofs  of  what  has  been  said  :  the  first 
father  of  Protestantism  finding  his  new  religion,  which  he  had 
submitted  to  the  pope,  condemned  by  him,  immediately  sounded 
the  trumpet  of  persecution  and  murder  against  the  pontiff,  and 
all  his  supporters,  in  the  following  terms  : — "  If  we  send  thieves 
to  the  gallows,  and  robbers  to  the  block,  why  do  we  not  fall  on 
those  masters  of  perdition,  the  popes,  cardinals,  and  bishops 
with  all  our  force,  and  not  give  over,  till  we  have  bathed  oui 
hands  in  their  blood  ?"||  He  elsewhere  calls  the  pope,  "  a 
mad  wolf,  against  whom  every  one  ought  to  take  arms,  without 
waiting  for  an  order  from  the  magistrate."  He  adds,  "  If  you 
fall  before  the  beast  has  received  its  mortal  wound,  you  will 
have  but  one  thing  to  be  sorry  for,  that  you  did  not  bury  your 
dagger  in  its  breast.  All  that  defend  him  must  be  treated  like 
a  band  of  robbers,  be  they  kings  or  be  they  Caesars.  "IT     By 

•  Charge  in  1812.     t  Trait.  Hist,  et  Dogmat.       X  Letters  de  la  Mont, 
§  Tab.  Lett,  quoted  by  Bossuet,  Avereiss,  p.  625.      |I  Ad  Sihest  Peri«r 
f  Thesus  apud  Sleid.  A.  D.  1545.     Opera  Luth.  torn.  L 


304  LETTER    XLIX. 

these  and  similar  i^^entives,  with  which  the  works  of  Luthei 
abound,  he  not  only  °xcited  the  Lutherans  themselves  to  pro. 
pagate  their  religiox-  by  fire  and  sword,  against  the  emperor  and 
other  Catholic  print ^i'?,  but  also  gave  occasion  to  all  the  san- 
guinary and  frantic  rcenes  which  the  Anabaptists  exhibited,  at 
the  same  time,  thron.'rh  the  lower  parts  of  Germany.  Coeval 
with  these,  was  the  civil  war,  which  another  arch-reiormer, 
Zuinglius,  lighted  upJn  Switzerland,  by  way  of  propagating  h\n 
peculiar  system,  and  the  persecution  which  he  raised  equally 
against  the  Catholics  wvd  the  Anabaptists.  Even  the  moderate 
Melancthon  wrote  a  beck  in  defence  of  religious  persecrdon,* 
and  the  conciliatory  Bucrr,  who  became  professor  of  divinny  at 
Cambridge,  not  satisfied  wifb  the  burning  of  the  heretic.  Serve- 
tus,  preached  that  "  hie  bowels  ought  to  have  been  torn  out, 
and  his  body  chopped  to  pieces. "f 

II.  But  the  grsat  champion  of  persecution,  every  one  knows, 
was  the  founder  of  the  second  great  branch  of  Protestantism. 
John  Calvin.  Not  content  w.'th  burning  Servetus,  beheading 
Gruet,  and  persecuting  othev  distinguished  Protestants,  Castallo, 
Bolsec,  and  Gentilis,  (who,  being  apprehended  in  the  neighbor, 
ing  Protestant  canton  of  Berne,  was  put  to  death  there,)  he  set 
up  a  consistorial  inquisition  at  Geneva,  for  forcing  everyone  1o 
conform  to  his  opinions,  and  required  that  the  magistrates  should 
punish  whomsoever  this  consistory  condemned.  He  was  suc« 
ceeded  in  his  spirit,  as  well  as  in  his  office,  by  Beza,  who  wrote 
a  folio  work  in  defence  of  persecution.i  In  this  he  shows  that 
Luther,  Melancthon,  BuIKnger,  Capito,  no  less  than  Calvin,  had 
written  works  expressly  in  defence  ot  this  principle,  which, 
accordingly,  was  firmly  maintained  by  Calvin's  followers,  par- 
ticularly in  France.  Bossuet  refers  to  the  public  records  of 
Nismes,  Montpelier,  and  othei  places,  in  proof  of  the  directions 
issued  by  the  Calvinist  coLs'sJories  to  iheir  generals,  for 
"  forcing  the  Papists  to  embrace  the  Reformation  by  tsxes,  quar- 
tering of  soldiers  upon  them,  dcn^oiishing  their  hoi^ses,  dz;c.; 
and  he  says,  "  the  wells  into  which  the  Cathoiics  w^re  flung, 
and  the  instruments  of  torture  which  were  used  at  the  first- 
mentioned  city  to  force  them  to  attend  *he  Protestant  ".ermons, 
are  things  of  public  notoriety. "§  In  fi^ct,  who  has  net  read  of 
the  infamous  Baron  Des  Ad  rets,  whose  rav.^ge  sport  v  was,  to 
torture  and  murder  Catholics,  in  a  Cathob'c  kingdom.  »  ^d  wh,^ 
forced  his  son  literally  to  wash  his  hands  in  ♦be'r  blooc'  r  Who 
has  not  heard  of  the  inhuman   Jane,  Queen  o*  Nava*>  '     «*m 

*  Bcza,  De  Hseret.  puniend. 

t  Ger.  Brandt,  Hist.  Abrcg.  Refor.  Pais  6as,  vol.  i.  p.  f^-i. 

t  De  HaBreticis  puniendista  Givili  Magistratu,  &,c,,  a  The-K    !ioif 

I  Varia/..  L.  x,m,  52. 


PBRSECUTlOn.  S05 

massacrf'd  priests  and  religious  persons,  b)  hundreds,  merely 
on  account  of  their  sacred  character  ?  In  short,  Catholic 
France,  throughout  its  extent,  and  during  a  great  number  of 
years,  was  a  scene  of  desolation  and  slaughter,  from  the  unre- 
lenting persecution  of  its  Huguenot  subjects.  Nor  was  the 
spectacle  dissimilar  in  the  Low  Countries,  when  Calvinism  got  a 
footing  in  them.  Their  first  synod,  held  in  1574,  equally  pro- 
scribed the  Catholics  and  the  Anabaptists,  calling  upon  the 
magistrates  to  support  their  decrees,*  which  decrees  were  re- 
newed in  several  subsequent  synods.  I  have  elsewhere  quoted 
a  late  Protestant  writer,  who,  on  the  authority  of  existing  public 
records,  describes  the  horrible  torments  with  which  Vander- 
merk  and  Sonoi,  two  generals  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  put  to 
death  incredible  numbers  of  Dutch  Catholics. f  Other  writers 
furnish  more  ample  details  of  the  same  kind. J  But  while  the 
Calvinist  ministers  continued  to  stimulate  their  magistrates  to 
redoubled  severities  against  the  Catholics,  (for  which  purpose, 
among  other  means,  they  translated  into  Dutch,  and  published 
the  above-mentioned  work  of  Beza,)  a  new  object  of  their  perse- 
cution arose  in  the  bosom  of  their  own  society  :  Arminius,  Vos- 
sius,  Episcopius,  and  some  other  divines,  supported  by  the  illus- 
trious statesmen,  Barnevelt  and  Grotius,  declared  against  the 
more  rigorous  of  Calvin's  maxims.  They  would  not  admit,  that 
God  decrees  men  to  be  wicked,  and  then  punishes  them  ever- 
lastingly for  what  they  cannot  help  ;  nor  that  many  persons 
are  in  his  actual  grace  and  favor,  while  they  are  immersed  in 
the  most  enormous  crimes.  For  denying  this,  Barnevelt  was 
beheaded. §  Grotius  was  condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment, 
and  all  the  remonstrant  clergy,  as  they  were  called,  were  ban- 
ished from  their  families  and  their  country,  with  circumstances 
of  the  greatest  cruelty,  at  the  requisition  of  the  Synod  of  Dort. 
In  speaking  of  Lutheranism,  I  have  passed  by  many  persecu- 
ting decrees  and  practices  of  its  adherents  against  Calvinists 
and  Zuinglians,  and  many  more  of  Calvinists  against  Luther, 
ans,  while  both  parties  agreed  in  showing  no  mercy  .o  the  Ana- 
^ptists.  Before  I  quit  the  continent,  I  mu.>t  mention  the  Lu- 
theran kingdoms  of  Denmark  and  Sweden,  in  both  which,  as 
Jurieu  has  signified  above,  the  Catholic  religion  was  extirpated, 
and  Protestantism  established,  by  means  of  rigorous  perseiu- 
ing  laws,  which  denounced  the  punishment  of  death  against  ihs 
former.  Professor  Messenius,  who  wrote  about  the  year  1600, 
mentions  four  Catholics  who  had  recently  been  put  to  death  in 

*  Brandt,  vol.  i.  p.  227.  t  Letters  to  a  Prebend,  p.  103. 

t  See  the  learned  Estius's  Hist,  of  the  Martyrs  of  Gorcum  ;  De  Brandt,  etc 
§  Diodati,  quoted  by  Brandt,  says  that  the  canons  of  Dort  carried  ofi  *iw 
head  of  Barnevelt 

26* 


ue 


LETTER    XLIX. 


Sweden,  on  account  of  their  religion,  and  eight  oth/rs  who  had 
been  imprisoned  and  tortured  on  that  account,  of  whom  he  him- 
self was  one.* 

III.  To  pass  over  now  to  the  northern  part  of  our  own  island. 
The  first  reformers  of  Scotland,  having  deliberately  murdeied 
Cardinal  Beaton,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's,!  and  riotously 
destroyed  the  churches,  monasteries,  and  every  thing  else,  which 
Ihey  termed  monuments  of  Popery,  assembled  in  a  tumultuoui 
and  illegal  manner,  and  before  even  their  own  religion  wag 
established  by  law,  they  condemned  the  Catholics  to  capital  pun- 
ishment  for  the  exercise  of  theirs:  "such  strangers,"  says  Rob- 
ertson,  "  were  men,  at  that  time,  to  the  spirit  of  toleration,  and 
*he  laws  of  humanity  !"J  Their  chief  apostle  was  John  Knox^ 
an  apostate  friar,  who,  in  all  his  publications  and  sermons, 
maintained,  that  "it  is  not  birth,  but  God's  election,  which  con- 
fers a  right  to  the  throne  and  to  magistracy ;"  that  "  no  promise 
nor  oath,  made  to  an  enemy  of  the  truth,  that  is,  to  a  Catholic, 
is  binding;"  and  that  "every  such  enemy,  in  a  high  station,  id 
to  be  deposed. "§  Not  content  with  threatening  to  depose  her, 
he  told  his  queen,  to  her  face,  that  the  Protestants  had  a  right 
to  take  the  sword  of  justice  into  their  hands,  and  to  punish  her, 
as  Samuel  slew  Agag,  and  as  Elias  slew  Jezabel':^  prophets. || 
Conformably  with  this  doctrine,  he  wrote  into  England,  that 
"  the  nobility  and  people  were  bound  in  conscience,  not  only  to 
withstand  the  proceedings  of  that  Jezabel,  Mary,  whom  tliey 
called  queen,  but  also  to  put  her  to  death,  and  all  her  priests 
with  her. "IF  His  fellow-apostles,  Goodman,  Willox,  Buciianan, 
Rough,  Black,  &c.,  constantly  inculcated  to  the  people  the 
same  seditious  and  persecuting  doctrine ;  and  the  Presbyterian 
ministers,  in  general,  earnestly  pressed  for  the  execution  of  their 
innocent  queen,  who  was  accused  of  a  murder,  perpetrated  by 
their  own  Protestant  leaders.**  The  same  unrelenting  intoler- 
ance was  seen  among  the  most  moderate  of  their  clergy,  "  when 
they  were  assembled  by  order  of  King  James  and  his  council  to 
inquire,  whether  the  Catholic  Earls  of  Huntly,  Errol,  and  tneir 
followers,  on  making  a  proper  concession,  might  not  be  admitted 
into  the  church,  and  be  exempt  from  further  punishment  ?" 
These  ministers  then  answered,  that,  "  though  the  gates  of  Wcr- 
cy  are  always  open  for  those  who  repent,  yet,  as  these  noble- 
mer  had  been  guilty  of  idolatry,  (the  Catholic  religion,)  a  crime 
df  serving  death  both  by  the  laws  of  God  and   man,  the  civil 

•  Scandia  Illustrat.,  quoted  by  Le  Brun.     Mess.  Explic.  t.  iv.  p.  140 
+  Gilb.  Stiart's  Hist.  ofRef.  in  Scotland,  vol.  i.  p.  47,  &c. 
t  Hist,  of  Scotland,  An.  1560.    6  &ee  Collier's  Eccle  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  443. 
II  St'iari'fa  'iist.  vol.  i.  p.  59.     ir'CXted  by  Dj-.  Paterson,  in  his  Jerus  and 
Babel.  *»  Stuart's  Hiet.  vol.  i.  p.  255 


PERSECiniON.  307 

magistrates  could  not  legally  pardon  them,  and  that,  thoug/i  the 
church  should  absolve  them,  it  was  his  duty  to  inflict  punish- 
ment upon  them."*  But  we  need  not  be  surprised  at  any  se- 
verity of  the  Presbyterians  against  Catholics,  when,  among 
other  penances,  ordained  by  public  authority,  agains  their  own 
mem')ers  who  should  break  the  fast  of  Lent,  whipping  in  the 
church  was  one.'\ 

IV.  The  father  of  the  church  of  England,  under  the  author, 
ity  of  the  Protector  Seymour,  Duke  of  Somerset,  was  confess- 
edly Thomas  Cranmer,  whom  Henry  VIII.  raised  to  the  Arch- 
bishopric of  Canterbury  ;  of  whom  it  is  difficult  to  say,  whether 
his  obsequiousness  to  the  passions  of  his  successive  masters, 
Henry,  Seymour,  and  Dudley,  or  his  barbarity  to  the  sectaries  who 
were  in  his  power,  was  the  more  odious :  there  is  this  circum- 
stance which  distinguishes  him  from  almost  every  other  perse- 
cutoi,  that  he  actively  promoted  the  capital  punishment,  not  only 
of  those  who  differed  from  him  in  religion,  but  also  of  those  who 
agreed  with  him  in  it.  It  is  admitted  by  his  advocates,^  that  he 
was  instrumental,  during  the  reign  of  Henry,  in  bringing  to  the 
stake  the  Protestants,  Lambert,  Askew,  Frith,  and  Allen,  be- 
sides condemning  a  great  many  others  to  it,  for  denying  the  cor- 
poreal presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  which  he  disbelieved 
himself  ;§  and  it  is  equally  certain,  that  during  the  reign  of  the 
child  Edward,  he  continued  to  convict  Arians  and  Anabaptists 
capitally,  and  to  press  for  their  execution.  Two  of  these,  Joan 
Knell  and  George  Van  Par,  he  got  actually  burnt,  preventing 
the  young  King  Edward  from  pardoning  them,  by  telling  him, 
that  "princes,  being  God's  deputies,  ought  to  punish  impieties 
against  him."||  The  two  next  most  eminent  fathers  of  the  Eng- 
lish church  were,  unquestionably,  Bishop  Ridley  and  Bishop 
Latimer,  both  of  them  noted  persecutors,  and  persecutors  of 
of  Protestants  to  the  extremity  of  death,  no  less  than  of  Ana- 
baptists and  other  sectaries  !  IT 

Upon  the  second  establishment  of  the  Protestant  religion  in 
England,  when  Elizabeth  ascended  the  throne,  it  was  again  but- 
tressed up  here,  as  in  every  other  country  where  it  prevailed, 
by  the  most  severe,  persecuting  laws  I  have  elsewhere  shown, 
from  authentic  sources,  that  above  two  hundred  Catholics  were 
hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered,  during  her  reign,  for  the  mere 
profession  or  exercise  of  the  religion  of  their  ancestors  for  almost 
one  thousand  years.     Of  this  number,  fifteen  were  condemned 

•  Robertson's  Hist.  Ann.  1596.  t  Stuart,  vol.  ii.  p.  94 

X  Fox,  Acts  and  Monum.     Fuller's  Church  Hist.  b.  v. 
\  See  Letters  to  a  Preb.  p.  206.         j]  Burnet's  Church  Hist.  P.  ii.  b.  i. 
i   See  the  proofs  of  these  facts  collected  from  Fox,  Burnet,  Heylin,  and 
CoUw'^,  in  Letters  to  a  Preb.  Letter  V 


S08  LETTER    XLIX. 

for  denying  the  queen's  spiritual  supremacy,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  for  the  exercise  of  their  priestly  functions,  and  the 
rest  for  being  reconciled  to  the  Catholic  Churcli,  for  hearing 
mass,  or  aiding  and  abetting  Catholic  priests.*  When  to  these 
sanguinary  scenes  are  added  those  of  many  hundreds  of  other 
Catholics,  who  perished  in  dungeons,  who  were  driven  into  exile, 
or  who  were  stripped  of  their  property,  it  will  appear  that  the 
persecution  of  Elizabeth's  reign  was  far  more  grievous  than  thai 
of  her  sister  Mary,  especially  when  the  proper  deductions  are 
made  from  the  sufferers  under  the  latter. f  Nor  was  persecu- 
tion  confined  to  the  Catholics ;  for  when  great  numbers  of  for- 
eign Anabaptists,  and  other  sectaries,  had  fled  into  England, 
from  the  fires  and  gibbets  of  their  Protestant  brethren  in  Hol- 
land, they  found  their  situation  much  worse  here,  as  they  com- 
plained, than  it  had  been  in  their  own  country.  To  silence 
these  complaints,  the  Bishop  of  London,  Edwin  Sandys,  pub- 
lished a  book  in  vindication  of  religious  persecution. :|:  In  short, 
the  protestant  church  and  .state  concurred  to  tlieir  extirpation. 
An  assembly  of  them,  to  the  number  of  twenty-seven,  having 
been  seized  upon  in  1575,  some  of  them  were  so  intimidated  as 
to  recant  their  opinions,  some  were  scourged,  two  of  them,  Pat- 
erson  and  Terwort,  were  burnt  to  death  in  Smithfield,  and  the 
rest  banished.^  Besides  these  foreigners,  the  English  dissenters 
were  also  grievously  persecuted.  Several  of  them,  such  as 
Thacker,  Copping,  Greenwood,  Barrow,  Penry,  &c.,  were  put 
to  death,  which  rigors  they  ascribed  principally  to  the  bishops, 
particularly  to  Parker,  Aylmer,  Sandys,  and  Whitgift.||  The 
last-named  they  accused  of  being  the  chief  author  of  the  famous 
inquisitorial  court,  called  the  Star-Chamber,  which  court,  in  ad- 
dition to  all  its  other  vexations  and  severities,  employed  the  rack 
and  torture,  to  extort  confession. IT  The  doctrines  and  practice 
of  persecution  in  England  did  not  end  with  the  race  of  Tudor. 
James  I.,  though  he  was  reproached  with  being  favorable  to  the 
Catholics,  nevertheless  signed  warrants  for  twenty-five  of  them 
to  be  hanged  and  quartered,  and  sent  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  of  them  into  banishment,  barely  on  account  of  tlieir  reli- 
gion, besides  exacting  a  fine  of  twenty  pounds  per  month  from 

*  Certain  opponents  of  mine  have  publicly  objected  to  me,  that  these  Ctth 
olics  suffered  for  high  treason.  True  :  the  laws  of  persecution  declared 
so ;  but  their  only  treason  consisted  in  their  religion.  Thus  the  apostles, 
and  other  Christian  martyrs,  were  traitors  in  the  eye  of  the  pagan  law ;  and 
the  chief  priests  declared,  with  respect  to  Christ  himself,  we  have  a  law^  and 
according  to  that  he  ought  to  die. 

t  See  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  pp.  149,  150. 

+  Ger.  Brandt,  Hist.  Reform.  Abreg.  vol.  i.  p.  234. 

§  Brandt,  vol.  i.  p.  234.  Hist,  of  Churches  of  Eng.  and  Scot.  vol.  ii.  p.  19* 

I  Ibid  IT  Mosheim,  vol.  iv.  p  40. 


PERSECXTTION.  5Ml9 

(hose  who  did  not  attend  the  church  service.  Still  he  was  re- 
peatedly  called  upon  by  Parliament  to  put  the  penal  laws  in 
force  with  greater  rigor ;  in  order,  say  they,  "  to  advance  tne 
glory  of  Almighty  God,  and  the  everlasting  honor  of  your  ma- 
jesty;"* and  he  was  warned  by  Archbishop  Abbot,  against 
tolerating  Catholics,  in  the  following  terms:  "Your  majesty 
hath  propounded  a  toleration  of  religion.  By  your  act,  you  la- 
bor to  set  up  that  most  damnable  and  heretical  doctrine  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  the  whore  of  Babylon  ; — and  thereby  draw 
down  upon  the  kingdom  and  yourself,  God's  heavy  wrath  and 
indignation."-!-  In  the  mean  time  the  Puritans  complained  loudly 
of  the  persecution  which  they  endured  from  the  Court  of  High 
Commission,  and  particularly  from  Archbishop  Bancroft,  and 
the  Bishops  Neale  of  Litchfield,  and  King  of  London.  They 
charged  the  former  of  these,  with  not  only  condemning  Edward 
Wightman  for  his  opinions,  but  also  with  getting  the  king's 
warrant  for  his  execution,  who  was  accordingly  burnt  at  Litch- 
field ;  and  the  latter,  with  treating  in  the  same  way  Bartholo- 
mew Legat,  who  was  consumed  in  Smithfield.ij:  The  same  un- 
relenting spirit  of  persecution,  which  had  disgraced  the  addresses 
presented  to  James,  prevailed  in  those  of  the  Parliament,  and  of 
many  bishops  to  his  son  Charles.  One  of  these,  signed  by  the 
renowned  Archbishop  Usher,  and  eleven  other  Irish  bishops  of 
the  Establishment,  declares,  that  "  to  give  toleration  to  Papists, 
is  to  become  accessory  to  superstition,  idolatry,  and  the  perdi- 
tion of  souls  ;  and  that,  therefore,  it  is  a  grievous  sin.^^^  At 
length  the  Presbyterians  and  Independents,  getting  the  upper 
hand,  had  an  opportunity  of  giving  full  scope  to  their  character, 
istic  intolerance.  Their  divines,  being  assembled  at  Sion  Col- 
lege, condemned,  as  an  error,  the  doctrine  of  toleration,  "  under 
the  absurd  terra,"  as  they  expressed  it,  "  of  liberty  of  con- 
science."||  Conformably  with  this  doctrine,  they  procured  from 
their  Parliament  a  number  of  persecuting  acts,  from  those  of  fining 
up  to  those  of  capital  punishment.  The  objects  of  them  were  not 
only  Catholics,  but  also  Church  of  England  men, IT  Quakers,  Seek- 
ors,  and  Arians.  In  the  mean  time,  they  frequently  appointed  na- 
tional  fasts  to  alone  for  their  pretended  guilt  in  being  too  toleran.*^ 
Warrants  for  the  execution  of  four  English  Catholics  were  ex- 
torte  i  from  the  king,  while  he  was  in  power,  and  near  twenty 
others  were  publicly  executed  under  the  Parliament  and  the 
protector.     This  hypocritical  tyrant  afterwards  invading  Ire- 

«  Rushworth's  Collect,  vol.  i.  p.  141.  t  Rushworth's  Collect, 

t  Chandler's  Introduct.  to  Limbroche's  Hist,  of  Inquis.  p.  80.    Neal's  Hi«t 
of  Purit.  vol.  ii. 

4  Leland's  Hist,  of  Ireland,  vol.  ii.  p.  482.     Ne-.l's  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  469. 
I  Hist,  of  Churches  of  Eng.  and  Scot.  vol.  iii.  ^  Ibid.  **  Ibid  NeaJ  s  HLit 


810  LETTER    XLIJC. 

land,  and  being  bent  on  exterminating  the  Cathtilic  population 
there,  persuaded  his  soldiers  that  they  had  a  divine  commission 
for  this  purpose,  as  the  Israelites  had  to  exterminate  the  Canaan- 
ites.'*'  To  make  an  end  of  the  clergy,  he  put  the  same  price 
upon  a  priest's  as  upon  a  wolf's  head.f  Those  Puritans  who, 
previously  to  the  civil  war,  had  sailed  to  North  America  to 
avoid  persecution,  set  up  a  far  more  cruel  one  there,  particu- 
larly against  the  Quakers,  whipping  them,  cropping  their  ears, 
boring  their  tongues  with  a  hot  iron,  and  hanging  them.  We 
have  the  names  of  four  of  these  sufferers,  one  of  them  a  woman, 
who  was  executed  at  Boston 4 

V.  During  the  whole  of  the  war  which  the  Puritans  waged 
against  the  king  and  constitution,  the  Catholics  behaved  with  un- 
paralleled loyalty.  It  has  been  demonstrated, §  that  three-fifths 
of  the  noblemen  and  gentlemen  who  lost  their  lives  on  the  side 
of  royalty,  were  Catholics,  and  that  more  than  half  of  the  land- 
ed property  confiscated  by  the  rebels,  belonged  to  Catholics. 
Add  to  this,  that  they  were  chiefly  insti'umental  in  saving 
Charles  II.  after  his  defeat  at  Worcester :  they  had,  consequent- 
ly, reason  to  expect  that  the  restoration  of  the  king  and  consti- 
tution would  have  brought  an  alleviation,  if  not  an  end,  of  their 
sufferings.  But  the  contrary  proved  to  be  the  case :  for  then 
all  parties  seem  to  have  combined  to  make  them  the  common 
object  of  their  persecuting  spirit  and  fury.  In  proof  of  this,  I 
need  allege  nothing  more  than  that  two  different  Parliaments 
voted  the  reality  of  Oaies^s  plot  f  and  that  eighteen  innocent 
and  loyal  Catholics,  one  of  them  a  peer,  suffered  the  death  of 
traitors  on  account  of  it :  to  say  nothing  of  seven  other  priests 
who,  about  that  time,  were  hanged  and  quartered  for  the  mere 
exercise  of  their  priestly  functions.  Among  the  absurdities  of  that 
sanguinary  plot,  such  as  those  of  shooting  the  king  with  silver 
bullets,  and  invading  the  island  with  an  army  of  pilgrims  from 
Compostella,  &c.,||  it  was  not  the  least  to  pretend  that  the  Catho- 
lics wished  to  kill  the  king  at  all ;  that  king  whom  they  had 
heretofore  saved  in  Staffordshire,  and  whom  they  well  knew  to 
be  secretly  devoted  to  their  religion.  But  any  pretext  was  ."S^ood, 
which  would  serve  the  purposes  of  a  persecuting  faction.  These 
purposes  were  to  exclude  Catholics,  not  only  from  the  throne, 
but  also  from  the  smallest  degree  of  political  power,  down  to 
that  of  a  constable  ;  and  to  shut  the  doors  of  both  houses  of  Par- 
liament against  them.  The  faction  succeeded  in  its  first  design 
by  the  Test  Act,  and  in  its  second  by  the  act  requiring  the  De- 
claration against  Popery ;  both  obtained  at  a  period  of  natioupl 

»  Anderson's  Royal  Geneal.  quoted  by  Curry,  vol.  ii.  p.  11. 
t  Ibid.  p.  63.  t  Ned's  Hist,  of  Churches. 

§  Lord  Castlemain's  Catholic  Apology.  ||  Echard's  Hist 


PERSECUTION.  311 

rfelirium  and  f'u-y.  What  the  spirit  of  the  c  ergy  was,  at.  thai 
time,  witli  respect  to  the  oppressed  Catholics,  appeared  at  their 
solemn  procession  at  Sir  Edmunbury  Godfrey's  funeral,*  and 
still  appears  in  three  folio  volumes  of  invective  and  misrepre- 
sentation then  published,  under  the  title  of  A  Preservative  against 
Papery.  On  the  other  hand,  such  was  the  unchristian  hatreo 
of  the  dissenters  against  the  Catholics,  that  they  ])romoted  tha 
Test  Act  with  all  their  power, j-  though  no  less  injurious  to  them. 
selves  than  to  the  Catholics  ;  and  on  every  occasion  they  refu&ad 
a  toleration  which  might  extend  to  the  latter..].  There  is  no 
need  of  bringing  down  the  history  of  persecution  in  this  country 
to  a  later  period  than  the  revolution,  at  which  time,  as  I  ob- 
served before,  a  Catholic  king  was  deposed,  because  he  would 
not  be  a  persecutor.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  number  of  penal 
laws  against  the  professors  of  the  ancient  religion,  and  founders 
of  the  constitution  of  this  country,  continued  to  increase  in  every 
reign,  till  that  of  his  present  majesty,  George  III.  In  the  course 
of  this  reign  most  of  the  old  persecuting  laws  have  been  repeal- 
ed ;  but  the  two  last-mentioned,  enacted  in  a  moment  of  delirium, 
which  Hume  represents  as  our  greatest  national  disgrace,  1 
mean  the  impracticable  Test  Act,  and  the  unintelligible  Declara' 
tion  against  Popery,  are  rigidly  adhered  to,  under  two  ground- 
less pretexts. §  The  first  of  these  is,  that  they  are  necessary  for 
the  support  of  the  Estahlished  Church;  and  yet  it  is  undeniable, 
that  this  church  had  maintained  its  ground,  and  had  flourished 
much  more  during  the  period  which  preceded  these  laws,  than 
it  has  ever  done  since  that  event.  The  second  pretext  is,  that 
the  withholding  of  honors  and  emoluments  is  not  persecution. 
On  this  point  let  a  Protestant  dignitary,  of  first-rate  talents,  be 
heard  :  "  We  agree,  that  persecution,  merely  for  conscience* 
sake,  is  against  the  genius  of  the  Gospel ;  and  so  is  any  law  for 
depriving  men  of  their  natural  and  civil  rights,  which  they  claim 
as  men.  We  are  also  ready  to  allow,  that  the  smallest  nega- 
tive discouragements,  for  uniformity's  sake,  are  so  many  perse- 
cutions. An  incapacity  by  law  for  any  man  to  be  made  a  judge 
or  a  colonel,  merely  on  point  of  conscience,  is  a  negati\  e  dis. 
couragement,  and,  consequently,  a  real  persecution,"  &c.|j  In 
the  present  case,  however,  the  persecution  which  Catholics  suf- 

♦  North's  Exam.  Echard.  t  Neal's  Hist,  of  Puritans,  vol.  iv.    IJiat. 

of  Churches,  vol.  iii.  \  Ibid. 

§  Since  the  venerable  and  illustrious  author  wrote  this  letter,  namely,  in 
the  year  1829,  the  test  act  was  partially  repealed,  and  Catholics  are  now  ad. 
missible  to  Parliament,  and  all  civil  offices  of  the  state,  with  the  exceptioa 
of  lord  chancellor  of  England,  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  higii  commis. 
■ioner  of  Scotland,  on  taking  an  oath  of  abjuration  and  promising  to  obsenrt 
certain  conditions  therein  specified. — Edit 

H  Dean  Swift's  works,  lol.  viii.  p.  56. 


812  LETTER   XLIX. 

fer  from  the  disabilities  in  question,  does  not  consist  so  much  ir. 
their  being  deprived  of  those  common  privileges  and  advantages, 
as  in  their  being  held  out  by  the  legislature  as  unworthy  of  them, 
and  thus  being  reduced  to  the  condition  of  an  inferior  caste  in 
their  own  country,  the  country  of  freedom  :  this  they  deeply 
feel,  and  cannot  help  feeling. 

VI.  But  to  return  to  my  subject:  I  presume,  that  if  the  facts 
and  reflections  which  I  have  stated  in  this  letter,  had  occurred 
to  the  right  reverend  prelates  mentioned  at  the  beginning  ot  i, 
they  would  have  lowered,  if  not  quite  altered,  their  tone  on  the 
present  subject.  The  Bishop  of  London  would  not  have  charged 
Catholics  with  claiming  a  right  to  punish  those  whom  they  call 
heretics,  "  with  penalties,  imprisonment,  tortures,  and  death  ;" 
nor  would  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  have  laid  down  "  toleration  as 
a  mark  of  the  true  church,  and  as  a  principle  recommended  by 
the  most  eminent  reformers  and  (Protestant)  divines."  At  all 
events,  I  promise  myself  that  a  due  consideration  of  the  points 
here  suggested,  will  efl^ace  the  remaining  prejudices  of  certain 
persons  of  your  society  against  the  Catholic  Church,  on  the 
score  of  her  alleged  "  spirit  of  persecution,  and  of  her  supposed 
claim  to  punish  the  errors  of  the  mind  with  fire  and  sword." 
They  must  have  seen  that  she  does  not  claim,  but  that,  in  her 
very  general  councils,  she  has  disclaimed  all  power  of  this  na- 
ture ;  and  that,  in  pronouncing  those  to  be  obstinate  heretics 
whom  she  finds  to  be  such,  she  always  pleads  for  mercy  in  their 
oehalf,  when  they  are  liable  to  severe  punishment  from  the 
secular  power  ;  a  conduct  which  many  eminent  Protestant 
churchmen  were  far  from  imitating,  in  similar  circumstances. 
They  must  have  seen,  moreover,  that  if  persecuting  laws  have 
been  made  and  acted  upon  by  the  princes  and  magistrates  in 
many  Catholic  countries,  the  same  conduct  has  been  uniformly 
practised  in  every  country,  from  the  Alps  to  the  arctic  circle,  in 
which  Protestants,  of  any  description,  have  acquired  the  power 
of  so  doing.  But  if,  after  all,  the  friends  alluded  to  should  not 
admit  of  any  material  difference  on  one  side  or  the  other  in  this 
matter,  I  will  here  point  out  to  them  two  discriminating  circum- 
stances of  such  weight,  as  must,  at  once,  decide  the  question 
about  persecution  in  disfavor  of  Protestants. 

In  the  first  place,  when  Catholic  states  and  princes  have  per- 
secuted Protestants,  it  was  done  in  favor  of  an  ancient  religion^ 
which  had  been  established  in  their  country,  perhaps,  a  thousand 
or  fifteen  hundred  years,  and  which  had  long  preserved  the 
peace,  order,  and  morality  of  their  respective  subjects  ;  and 
when,  at  the  same  time,  they  clearly  saw,  that  any  attempt  to 
alter  this  religion  would,  unavoidably,  produce  incalculable  dis- 
orders, and  sanguinary  contests,  among  them.     On  the  other 


CONCLUSION.  318 

hand,  Protestants,  everywhere,  persecuted  in  hehsiif  of  new  sys- 
tems, in  opposition  to  the  established  laws  of  the  church,  and  of 
the  respective  states.  Not  content  with  vindicating  their  own 
freedom  of  worship,  they  endeavored,  in  each  coa*try,  by  per- 
secution, to  force  the  professors  of  the  old  religion  to  abandon  it 
and  adopt  theirs;  and  they  acted  in  the  same  way  by  their  fellow 
Protestants,  who  had  adopted  opinions  different  from  their  own. 
In  many  countries,  where  Calvinism  got  ahead,  as  in  Scotland,  in 
Holland,  at  Geneva  and  in  France,  it  was  by  riotous  mobs,which, 
under  the  direction  of  their  pastors,  rose  in  rebellion  against 
their  lawful  princes,  and,  having  secured  their  independence, 
proceeded  to  sanguinary  extremities  against  the  Catholics. 

In  the  second  place,  if  Catholic  states  and  princes  have  en- 
forced submission  to  their  church  by  persecution,  they  were 
fully  persuaded  that  there  is  a  divine  authority  in  this  church  to 
decide  in  all  controversies  of  religion,  and  that  those  Christians 
who  refuse  to  hear  her  voice,  when  she  pronounces  upon  them, 
are  obstinate  heretics.  But  on  what  ground  can  Protestants  per 
secute  Christians  of  any  description  whatsoever?  Their  grand 
rule  and  fundamental  charter  is,  that  the  Scriptures  were  given  by 
Oodfor  every  man  to  interpret  them  as  he  judges  best.  If,  there 
fore,  when  I  hear  Christ  declaring.  Take  ye  and  eat,  this  is  my 
body,  I  believe  what  he  says,  with  what  consistency  can  any 
Protestant  require  me,  by  pains  and  penalties,  to  swear  that  I 
do  not  believe  it,  and  that  to  act  conformably  with  this  persua- 
sion is  idolatry  ?  But  religious  persecution,  which  is  every- 
where odious,  will  not  much  longer  find  refuge  in  the  most  gen- 
erous of  nations ;  much  less  will  the  many  victorious  arguments 
which  demonstrate  the  true  church  of  Christ,  our  common 
mother,  who  reclaimed  us  all  from  the  barbarous  rites  of  pagan- 
ism, be  defeated  by  the  calumnious  outcry  that  she  herself  is  a 
bloody  Moloch,  that  requires  human  victims. 

I  am,  <&c., 

John  Milnsb. 


LETTEB  L.— TO  THE  FBIENDLY  SOCIETY  OP  NEW  COTTAOl. 

CONCLUSION. 

Mt  friends  and  brethren  in  Christ — 

Having,  at  length,  in  the  several  letters  addressed  to  your 
worthy  president,  Mr.  Brown,  and  others  of  your  society,  com- 
pleted the  task  which,  eight  months  ago,  you  imposed  upon  me, 
I  address  this,  my  concluding  letter,  to  you  in  common,  as  a 
slight  review  of  the  whole.  I  observed  to  you,  that  to  succeed 
in  any  inquiry,  it  is  necessary  to  know  and  to  follow  the  right 

27 


314  LETTER  L. 

method  of  making  it.  Hence,  I  entered  upon  the  present  im- 
portant search  after  the  truths  of  the  Christian  revelation,  with 
a  discussion  of  the  rules  or  method  followed,  for  this  purpose, 
by  different  classes  of  Christians  Having  taken  for  granted 
the  following  maxims : — that  Christ  has  appointed  some  rule  or 
method  of  learning  his  revelation ;  that  this  rule  must  be  an  un- 
erring one  /  and  that  it  must  be  adapted  to  the  capacities  and  sit- 
uations of  mankind  in  general ;  I  proceeded  to  show  that  a  sup- 
posed private  spirit,  or  particular  inspiration,  is  not  that  rule ; 
because  this  persuasion  has  led  numberless  fanatics,  in  everj 
age  since  that  of  Christ,  into  the  depths  of  error,  folly  and  ^vick- 
edness  of  every  kind.  I  proved,  in  the  second  place,  that  the 
written  word,  or  Scripture,  according  to  each  one's  conception  of 
its  meaning,  is  not  that  rule  ;  because  it  is  not  adapted  to  the 
capacities  and  situations  of  the  bulk  of  mankind — a  great  pro- 
portion of  them  not  being  able  to  read  the  Scripture,  and  much 
less  to  form  a  connected  sense  of  a  single  chapter  of  it ;  and  be- 
cause innumerable  Christians  have,  at  all  times,  by  following 
this  presumptuous  method,  given  into  heresies,  impieties,  contra- 
dictions and  crimes,  almost  as  numerous  and  flagrant  as  those 
of  the  above-mentioned  fanatics.  Finally,  I  demonstrated  that 
there  is  a  two-fold  word  of  God — the  unwritten  and  the  written  • 
that  the  former  was  appointed  by  Christ,  and  made  use  of  by  the 
apostles,  for  converting  nations ;  and  that  it  was  not  made  void 
by  the  inspired  epistles  and  gospels  which  some  of  the  apostles 
and  the  evangelists  addressed,  for  the  most  part  to  particular 
churches  or  individuals ;  that  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  divinely 
commissioned  guardian  and  interpreter  of  the  word  of  God  in 
both  its  parts ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  method  appointed  by 
Christ  for  learning  what  he  has  taught  on  the  various  articles 
of  his  religion,  is  to  HEAR  THE  CHURCH  propounding  them 
to  us  from  the  whole  of  his  rule.  This  method,  I  have  shown, 
continued  to  be  pointed  out  by  the  fathers  and  doctors  of  tho 
churc'h  in  constant  succession,  and  that  it  is  the  only  one  which 
is  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  mankind  in  general ;  the  only 
one  which  leads  to  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  Christian  Church ; 
and  the  only  one  which  affords  tranquility  and  security  to  in- 
dividual Christians  during  life,  and  at  the  trying  hour  of  their 
dissolution. 

At  this  point  my  labors  might  have  ended ;  as  the  Catholic 
Church  alone  follows  the  right  rule,  and  the  right  rule  infalUiby 
leads  to  the  Catholic  Church.  But,  since  Bishop  Porteus,  and 
other  Protestant  controvertists,  raise  cavils  as  to  which  is  the 
true  church ;  and  whereas  this  is  a  question  that  admits  of  a 
still  more  easy  and  more'jriumphant  answer  than  that  concerning 
the  right  ru'.e  of  faith,  1  have  made  it  the  subject  of  a  second 


oonolusion;  815 

series  of  letters,  with  which,  I  Matter  myself,  the  greater  part 
of  you  are  acquainted.     In  fact,  no  inquiry  is  so  easy  to  an  at- 
tentive and  upright  Christian  as  that  which  leads  to  the  discov- 
ery of  the  true  church  of  Christ ;  because,  on  one  hand,  ajl 
Christians  agree  in  their  common  creeds,  concerning  the  char- 
acters^ or  marks,  which  she  bears ;  and  because,  on  the  other 
hand,  these  marks  are  of  an  exterior  and  splendid  kind,  such  a3 
require  no  extensive  learning  or  abilities,  and  little  more  than 
the  use  of  our  senses  and  common  reason,  to  discern  them.    In 
short,  among  the  numerous  and  jarring  societies  of  Christians, 
(all  pretending  to  have  found  out  the  truths  of  revelation,)  to 
ascertain  which  is  the  true  church  of  Christ,  that  infallibly 
possesses  them,  we  have  only  to  observe  which  among  them  is 
distinctively  ONE,  HOLY,  CATHOLIC,  and  APOSTOLI- 
CAL— and  the  discovery  is  made.     In  treating  of  these  char- 
acters, or  marks,  I  said  it  was  obvious  to  every  beholder  that 
there  is  no  bond  of  union  whatever  among  the  different  socie- 
ties of  Protestants  ;  and  that  no  articles,  canons,  oaths  or  laws 
have  the  force  of  confining  the  members  of  any  one  of  them,  as 
experience  shows,  to  a  uniformity  of  belief,  or  even  profession, 
in  a  single  kingdom  or  island,  while  the  great  Catholic  Church, 
spread,  afS  it  is,  over  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  consisting,  as  it 
does,  of  all  nations ,  and  tribes,  and  peoples,  and  tongues,  is  strictly 
united  in  the  same  faith,  the  same  sacraments,  and  the  same 
church  government;  in  short,  that  it  demonstratively  exhibits  the 
first  mark  of  the  true  church,  unity .    W  ith  respect  to  the  second 
mark,  sanctity,  I  showed  that  she  alone  teaches  and  enforces  the 
whole  doctrine  of  the  Gospel ;  that  she  is  the  mother  of  all  the 
saints,  acknowledged  as  such  by  Protestants  themselves  ;  that 
she  possesses  many  means  of  attaining  to  sanctity,  which  the 
latter  disclaim  ;  and  that  God  himself  attests  the  truth  of  this 
church,  by  the  miracles  with  which  from  time  to  time  he  illus- 
trates her  exclusively.     And,  whereas  many  eminent  Protest- 
ant writers  have  charged  the  Catholics  with  deception  and  for- 
gery on  this  head'  I  have  unanswerably  retorted  the  charge 
upon  themselves.     I^o  words  were  wanting  to  show  that  the 
Catholic  Church  bears  the  glorious  name  of  CATHOLIC,  and 
very  few  to  demonstrate  that  she  is  catholic  or  universal^  with 
respect  both  to  place  and  time,  and  that  she  is  also  apostolical. 
The  latter  point,  however,  I  exhibited  in  a  more  evident  and 
sensible  manner,  by  means  of  a  sketch  of  an  apostolical  tree,  a 
genealogical  table  of  the  church,  which  I  sent  you,  showing  the 
succession  of  her  pontiffs,  her  most  eminent  bishops,  doctors, 
and  saints,  as  also  that  of  the  most  notorious  heretics  and  schis- 
matics who  have  been  lopped  off  from  this  tree,  in  every  age, 
from  that  of  the  apostles  down  to  the  present.    "  No  church 


316  LBTTEB  L. 

but  the  Catholic  can  exhibit  anything  of  this  kind,"  as  Tertul- 
lian  reproached  the  seceders  of  his  tiire.  Under  thi«  head  you 
must  have  observed,  in  particular,  the  want  of  an  apostolical 
succession  of  ministry,  under  which  I  showed  that  all  the  Pro- 
testant societies  labor ;  and  their  want  of  success  in  attempting 
the  work  of  the  apostles,  the  conversion  of  pagan  nations. 

The  third  series  of  my  letters  has  been  employed  in  tearing 
off  the  hideous  mask  with  which  calumny  and  misrepresenta- 
tion had  disfigured  the  fair  face  of  Christ's  true  spouse,  the 
Catholic  Church.  In  this  endeavor,  I  trust,  I  have  been  com- 
pletely successful,  and  that  there  is  not  one  of  your  society 
who  will  any  more  reproach  Catholics  with  being  idolaters,  on 
account  of  their  respect  for  the  memorials  of  Christ  and  his 
saints,  or  of  their  desiring  the  prayers  of  the  latter ;  or  on  ao- 
count  of  the  adoration  they  pay  to  the  divine  Jesus,  hidden  un- 
der the  sacramental  veils.  Nor  will  they  hereafter  accuse  us 
of  purchasing  or  otherwise  procuring  leave  to  commit  sin,  op 
the  previous  pardon  of  sins  to  be  committed  ;  or,  in  short,  of 
perfidy,  sedition,  cruelty,  or  systematic  wickedness  of  any  kind. 
So  far  from  this,  I  have  reason  to  hope  that  the  view  of  the 
church  herself,  which  I  have  exhibited  to  your  society,  instead 
of  the  caricature  of  her  which  Dr.  Porteus  and  other  bigoted 
controvertists  have  held  up  to  the  public,  has  produced  a  desire 
in  several  of  them  to  return  to  the  communion  of  this  original 
church ;  bearing,  as  nhe  clearly  does,  all  the  marks  of  the  true 
church;  gifted,  as  she  manifestly  is,  with  so  many  peculiar 
helps  for  salvation ;  and  possessing  the  only  safe  and  practica- 
ble rule  for  ascertaining  the  truths  of  revelation.  The  con- 
sideration which,  I  understand,  has  struck  some  of  them,  in  the 
most  forcible  manner,  is  that  which  I  suggested  from  my  own 
knowledge  and  experience,  as  well  as  from  the  observation  of 
the  eminent  writers  whom  I  have  named — that  no  Catholic  at 
the  near  approach  of  death,  i$  ever  found  desirous  of  dying  in  any 
other  religion,  while  numbers  of  Protestants,  in  that  situation^  seek 
to  be  reconciled  to  the  Catholic  Church. 

Some  of  your  number  have  said,  that  though  they  are  of 
opinion  that  the  Catholic  religion  is  the  true  one,  yet  they  have 
not  that  evidence  of  the  fact  which  they  think  sufficient  to  justify 
a  change  in  so  important  a  point  as  that  of  religion.  God  for- 
bid that  I  should  advise  any  person  to  embrace  the  Catholic 
religion  without  having  sufficient  evidence  of  its  truth ;  but  I 
must  remind  the  persons  in  question  that  they  have  not  a  meta- 
physical evidence,  nor  a  mathematical  certainty  of  the  truth  of 
Christianit}-  in  general.  In  fact,  they  have  only  a  high  moral 
evidence  and  certainty  of  this  truth  ;  for  with  all  the  miracles 
and  other  arguments  by  which  Christ  and  his  apostles  proved 


OONOLUSIOW.  817 

this  divine  system,  it  was  still  a  stumbling-block  to  the  Jews  and 
folly  to  the  Gentiles.  1  Cor.  i.  23.  In  short,  according  to  the 
observation  of  St.  Augustin,  there  is  light  enough  in  it  to  guide 
the  sincere  faithful,  and  obscurity  enough  to  mislead  perverse 
unbelievers ;  because,  after  all,  faith  is  not  merely  a  divine 
illustration  of  the  understanding,  but  also  a  divine,  and  yet  vol- 
untary motion  of  the  will.  Hence,  if,  in  travelling  through 
thi*"  darksome  vale,  as  Locke,  I  think,  observes,  with  respect 
to  revelation  in  general,  God  is  pleased  to  give  us  the  light  of  the 
moon  or  of  the  stars,  we  are  not  to  stand  still  on  our  journey 
because  he  does  not  afford  us  the  light  of  the  sun.  The  same 
is  to  be  said  in  respect  to  the  evidence  in  favor  of  the  Catho- 
lic religion  :  it  is  moral  evidence  of  the  first  quality  ;  far  su- 
perior to  that  on  which  we  manage  our  temporal  affairs,  and 
guard  our  lives ;  and  not,  in  the  least,  below  that  which  ex- 
ists for  the  truth  of  Christianity  at  large.  At  all  events,  it 
is  wise  to  chose  the  safer  part;  and  it  would  be  madness  to  act 
otherwise  when  eternity  is  at  stake.  The  great  advocates  of 
Christianity,  St.  Augustin,  Pascal,  Abbadie,  and  others  argue 
thus,  in  recommending  it  to  us,  in  preference  to  infidelity  :  now 
the  same  argument  evidently  holds  good  for  preferring  the 
Catholic  religion  to  every  Protestant  system.  The  most  emi- 
nent Protestant  divines,  such  as  Luther,  Melancthon,  Hooker, 
Chillingworth ;  with  the  bishops,  Laud,  Taylor,  Sheldon, 
Blandford,  and  the  modern  prelates,  Marsh,  and  Porteus  him- 
self, all  acknowledge  that  salvation  may  be  found  in  the  commu- 
nion of  the  original  Catholic  Church ;  but  no  divine  of  this 
church,  consistently  with  her  characteristical  unity,  and  the 
constant  doctrine  of  the  holy  fathers,  and  of  the  Scripture 
itself,  as  I  have  elsewhere  demonstrated,  can  allow  that  salva- 
tion is  to  be  found  out  of  this  communion,  except  in  the  case 
of  invincible  ignorance. 

It  remains,  my  dear  friends  and  brethren,  for  each  of  you  to 
take  his  and  her  part ;  but,  remember,  that  the  part  you  seve- 
rally take  is  taken  for  ETERNITY !  Oa  this  occasion,  there- 
fore, if  ever  you  ought  to  do  so,  reflect  and  decide  seriously  and 
conscientiously,  dismissing  all  wordly  respects,  of  whatever 
kind,  from  your  minds ;  for  what  exchange  shall  a  man  receive 
for  his  soul  'i*  and  what  will  the  prejudiced  opinion  of  your  fel- 
low mortals  avail  you  at  that  tribunal  where  we  are  all  so  soon 
to  appear !  and  in  the  vast  abyss  of  eternity,  in  which  we  shall 
quickly  be  all  engulfed!  Will  any  pf  them  plead  your  cause 
at  the  bgj  ?  or  will  your  punishment^be  more  tolerable  from 
theiji-sharing  iu  it?    Finally,  with  alTthe  fervor  and  sincerity 

*  UMit  xyL  20. 


318  LETTER   L. 

of  your  souls,  beseech  your  future  Judge,  who  is  now  your 
merciful  Saviour,  to  bestow  upon  you  that  light  to  see  your 
way,  and  that  strength  to  follow  it,  which  he  merited  for  you 
when  he  hung  for  three  hours,  your  agonizing  victim,  on  the 
cross. 

Adieu,  my  dear  friends  and  brethren :  we  shall  soon  meet 
together  at  the  tribunal  I  have  mentioned ;  and  be  assured  that 
I  look  forward  to  that  meeting  with  a  perfect  confidence  that 
you  and  I,  and  the  Great  Judge  himself^  shall  all  concur  in 
approbation  of  the  advice  I  now  give  you. 

I  am,  yours,  &c., 

John  Milnkb. 

Wolverhampton^  May  29,  1802. 


TEDB 


Bmb  art  TflMTl  and  uDon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Cbarcb.  and  the  gatea 
cCJiaQ  liiall  not  MovaU  afisiosl  iL*' 


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